Coreline: Invasion of Portland
by L1701E
Summary: Chapter 3 up! Sidefic to OrionPax09's "The Shikigami Ranger and the Monster Mashers". In the Coreline world's Portland, Oregon, the Aegis Organization and their allies must protect the City of Roses from the madness of Halloween! Next: A Moment of Calm!
1. Meet Aegis!

**Coreline: Invasion of Portland**

 **Disclaimer: All characters belong to their respective owners. This is just for fun.**

 _ **The Core Timeline is an amalgamation of chaos. The so-called real world has been overlapped with the realms of movies, comic books, anime, and more. Portland, Oregon is not immune to this. The City of Roses in the Core Timeline has its own heroes. Mainly the Aegis Organization, a local branch of The Foundation, originally from an alternate version of the Marvel Universe, destroyed in a cataclysm, but reborn here. And when a massive demonic invasion hits the world, Aegis must live up to its mythological namesake and be Portland's defense, for they are the City of Roses' only hope.**_

 **Author's Note: This is set during OrionPax09's "Shikigami Ranger and the Monster Mashers".**

Chapter 1: Set the Stage! Meet Aegis!

 **Portland, Oregon**

The sky over the City of Roses was, rather usual for the time of year, overcast. Falls tended to be cool and rainy this time of year. Still, the gray sky did little to harm the beauty of the city. In the world known as Coreline, much of civilization could be described as "cyberpunk"...except for Portland. Before the rampage of the CLULESS virus and the Vanishing, Portland was regarded as one of the world's most environmentally conscious cities. Afterwards...that was taken to a new level. Thanks to the technology of various fictions now being reality, the City of Roses could be described as rather..."Solar Punk". Hanging gardens were everywhere, the buildings were powered by sun and wind. Roses were everywhere, making the city truly live up to its nickname.

A woman stood in her office in a tall building, looking over the city. A small smile was on her face, a cup of hot chocolate in her hands. Amusingly, the mug was purple with "World's Best Boss" on it in gold lettering. The woman herself was a tall beauty with brownish-black hair in a bob. She was dressed in a black business suit with a white blouse, and comfortable shoes.

On one of the lapels were a couple of pins. One was of an American flag, and the other was of the logo of The Foundation offshoot she headed: A golden Corinthian helmet in a black circle, bordered by a golden ring.

Rosalind Price was feeling serene right now, even though the Aegis Organization had plenty to do. Since Halloween signaled a spike of supernatural activity, she worked with Portland's police to help evacuate civilians, as these kind of battles tended to get...destructive. The city had special bunkers underground provided by Stingray Industries as a place citizens could flee to and be protected in so superhuman champions could concentrate on taking care of any potential threats without worrying about endangering or injuring civilians. So, why was she serene? Well, Aegis was _ahead_ of schedule. Hopefully, Halloween would not be completely insane this year, but if it did...Aegis was ready. The German/Welsh-American woman sipped her hot chocolate. ***1**

"Bring it on, Halloween." The former Marine chuckled. "We're ready to party in the living world." She quickly shook her head. _Careful, Rosalind._ She chided herself. _Some cosmic crazy may hear that and take it as a challenge._

"Miss Price?" A woman's voice asked. Price turned around and saw two people walk into her office. One was a slim Asian woman with her black hair in a high ponytail and wearing a green business suit with a blue tie. The other was a bald man wearing sleek futuristic dark blue armor with gold and silver highlights. The armor had a chest emblem of the Aegis logo with a number 1 incorporated into it. They were both smiling.

"Taryn. Luther." Price noted. "Is the evac still going ahead of schedule?"

"Yes, ma'am." Taryn Fujioka, Aegis's public relations expert, nodded, looking at her tablet. "We're just getting the last of the civilians in the shelters." Luther Banks, aka Paladin One and Price's loyal right hand, checked his watch.

"It's about three hours until sunset." He looked at Taryn, then gave the Japanese-American woman a light nudge. "Tell her."

"...tell me what?" An amused Price cocked her head.

"Well, I know we did this _yesterday,_ but..." Taryn smiled. "Maybe we could hold another little party." Price chuckled.

"Taryn, you _know_ why we had the party yesterday." Price reminded. "So we could concentrate on preparing the city today. Saotome warned us that Halloween in the Coreline can get...a bit wild, so I want to be ready."

"Ah, nuts." Taryn mock pouted, making Banks and Price chuckle.

"If it makes you feel any better, Taryn, there is Christmas."

"Knowing this place, I would not be surprised if _Christmas_ is just as crazy." Banks retorted. "We still have some time, but I suggest we get the kids and get them ready." The ex-Marine sniper warned. Price nodded.

"Agreed." She concurred. "We had better get them here."

"Most of them are already here. Rosalind, do we _really_ need to do this?" Taryn asked. "I mean, Portland isn't really _known_ for the kind of supernatural insanity that places like New York City or New Orleans get."

"This is Coreline, Miss Fujioka." Price reminded. "Just because Portland isn't known for that does not mean that we still won't get some giant demon deciding to wreck the city simply because it's bored or having a bad day or sexually frustrated or God knows what else." Banks and Fuijoka fought to suppress a snicker, and Price rolled her eyes. "Times like this, I get reminded I work with children."

"You mean besides the kids?" Banks snarked.

"You _know_ what I mean, Banks." Price rolled her eyes.

"You know you love us." Taryn grinned. "I'd better get my nunchucks, then." _Not to mention my little...secret weapon..._

"Good. I really would feel comfortable knowing where they are right now."

Taryn smirked. "You really have grown to love them, huh?" Price smiled.

"They reminded me that for all the craziness that superhumans bring, they're still very human." Price explained. She then heard a beeping. Price went over to a monitor on the wall of her office, and turned it on. The monitor showed a slim pale woman with a blonde ponytail that was shaved at the sides. She was dressed in a blue Ghostbuster jumpsuit, the black name patch on it having the name "Unglighter" on it in red letters.

"Miss Unglighter." Price greeted. Rachel Unglighter was a human-demon hybrid, her father being a powerful Sumerian god named Koza'Rai and her mother, a Norwegian immigrant. This heritage made the woman a powerful sorceress, and an invaluable member of Portland's Ghostbuster team. "I take it that the PKE readings are starting to spike?"

"Not as much as in certain other cities, but yeah." Rachel answered. "There's definitely a spike. We're keeping an eye on it, and we're getting mobilized here, just in case."

"Good." Price nodded.

"If it get _really_ big, you guys are going to have to get your super-agents out there." Rachel warned. "I have been sensing something big coming. It's been getting my half-demon blood going, so it's not likely to be anything good." She sighed. "I hope it's not my aunt Tiamat. I hate aunt Tiamat."

"Tiamat? Like...the _Babylonian goddess of the sea Tiamat?_ " Taryn yelped.

"Yeah, her." Rachel nodded. "She _loves_ to raise hell when she shows up. She's also the personification of chaos, so you can bet things will get really screwy when she's around."

"Well, Aegis isn't really meant to handle supernatural events like this, but we'll help how we can." Price told the half-demon Ghostbuster. "The city's been evacuated, so we shouldn't have to worry about civilians getting harmed." The woman looked at her phone. "Still, I had better call all of our allies. We're going to need everyone we can get out here..."

 **The Aegis Organization building's gymnasium**

The Aegis Organization's building was more than just your standard law-enforcement offices. Because it had its fair share of superhumans in its employ, the building had some special things for them, like quarters for some of the super-agents in its employ (a couple of the Agents had nowhere else to live, so the quarters provided them a place to stay), and this gymnasium. The gym had specially-modified equipment for Agents, as well as a training area that was reminiscent of the X-Men's Danger Room.

 _ **WHAM!**_

A fist, wrapped up with tape and covered in a red fighting glove, hit the heavy bag.

 _ **WHAM!**_

Another blow to the bag.

 _ **WHAM!**_

A third blow to the bag. The fist belonged to one of the Agents of Aegis, firing another combination of blows to the bag. He was a muscular Caucasian teenager, wearing a blue sleeveless t-shirt, red gym shorts, and white sneakers. His fists and wrists were wrapped with tape, and his hair, which unusually for someone of his age, was a snowy white. He grunted and hit the bag with a big punch.

 _ **WHAM!**_

The punch broke the chain that held the bag up, and the bag itself was sent flying. He blinked in shock. "Oops." He mumbled.

 _ **All-American. Real Name: Giovanni "Jack" Magniconte. Birthplace: Utica, NY, USA. Affiliation: Aegis. Physiology: Inhuman. Powers and Abilities: Superhuman strength, speed, reflexes, reaction time, stamina.**_

Born into an Italian-American family from Utica in upstate New York, Jack Magniconte grew up admiring Steve Rogers, the original Captain America. As he grew up, Jack would eventually become a sort of "big man on campus". His handsome face made him the object of desire to many girls, and his good-hearted nature made him friends from various cliques. He was practically the modern All-American Boy, he even was the quarterback of his high school's football team.

His life changed forever when he and four other teenagers from around the country were kidnapped to a lab run by (unknown to them at the time) the mad sociopathic scientist Dr. Henry Clerk. Clerk had kidnapped them to use as test subjects for various experiments involving the Terrigen Mists. Jack would end up exposed to the Mists, giving him his powers and turning his hair from blond to white. Jack and the other four teenagers would be rescued by Aegis, and they would join the group to bring Clerk to justice. Jack had become the leader of the group, much to his surprise.

"Ah, crud." Jack muttered, rubbing the back of his head. His cheeks reddened in embarrassment. "I really have to watch my own strength sometimes."

"Good thing for us you never have that problem on the job." A female voice teased. Jack turned and saw the woman chuckling, her hands on her hips. The woman herself appeared to be an anthropomorphic cat with jet black fur, her equally dark-colored hair seemingly resembling a lion's mane. Her dark brown feline eyes twinkled and her tail twitched in amusement. Her fingers and bare feet had nails that were more like cat's claws. She was wearing a gray t-shirt with the Aegis logo on it and blue bike shorts.

 _ **Nightcat. Real Name: Jacqueline Tavarez. Birthplace: New York City, New York. Affiliation: Aegis. Powers and Abilities: Superhuman senses, agility, reflexes, healing factor, strength. Can see in low light conditions. Skilled musician/singer and criminologist.**_

Jacqueline Tavarez was once an aspiring singer, until witnessing a drug deal caused her to become a test subject for an experimental serum developed by a woman named Amanda Gideon and Dr. Edwin Stacy, aka "Dr. Ecstasy". The serum was meant to imbue people with the powers of animals. Her father, a police officer, managed to save her at the cost of his life, and she developed cat-like abilities. ***** **2**

Over the years, she would become a highly regarded singer and occasional crimefighter. However, the serum would have a delayed side effect. The mixture of human and feline DNA was causing her genetic structure to destabilize, slowly driving her mad and eventually would kill her. That was when she crossed paths with Aegis, who were investigating a case of attacks by animal/human hybrids.

Tavarez's old enemy Amanda Gideon had seemingly returned from the dead, and she had refined the Nightcat serum, creating monsters. After Gideon was stopped, Aegis used the modified serum as a basis for a compound to stabilize Tavarez's DNA, at the cost of transforming her into her current feline form. She grew to accept her new lot in life, and became a full-on Agent of Aegis, their sixth super-agent.

"Thanks, Jackie." Jack sighed. He walked over to a pile of heavy bags and grabbed another one. "Having fun on that fancy jungle gym?"

"Hell yeah!" Jacqueline grinned, revealing her fangs. "I've been having a blast. It's a great way to test my flexibility and reflexes. You oughta try it."

"Not my thing." Jack chuckled. "But I am glad you're enjoying it." He then cocked his head. "How are _you_ doing? I know it's been rough for you with your transformation and all."

"Yeah, but I've been getting used to it." Jacqueline said with a shrug. "Being in this crazy world helps. Hell, compared to some of the things here, I'm actually _normal!_ "

"Oh yeah." Jack nodded. "Fair share of crazy stuff in the old timeline, too." The white-haired teenager snapped his fingers as he remembered something. "Miss Price said we should be on alert tonight. It's Halloween, so she's expecting something big."

"I'm not surprised." Jacqueline frowned. "Something's got me on edge all day today. I'm...sensing something in the air. I was helping with the evacuation a bit this afternoon, and I noticed some local stray cats going crazy."

"They were probably sick."

The singer shook her head. "No...they sensed something coming. I felt the same thing. It's got me on edge." Jack frowned and put his finger on his chin in thought.

 _That is interesting..._ The young Inhuman mused. _Recently, we had discovered she developed an odd rapport with cats. Probably a side effect of her transformation into her current form. If **they** are going crazy..._"Have you told this to Miss Price?"

Jacqueline nodded. "Yeah, of course I did. She told me that she anticipated that. Being genre savvy is only helpful here in this crazy ol' world."

"Indeed." Jack looked at his watch. "Well, it's still a couple hours until sunset. So, what you want to do?"

"I dunno." Jacqueline shrugged. "We shouldn't really go out..."

"True..." Jack admitted. _God, Keiko should get her butt here already. I know she wanted to help out at the shelters, but we need her here..._ "...you know, Jen and Andy finally got that _Super Street Fighter II Turbo_ arcade cabinet working. Want to break it in?"

"I'd love to, but I'm more in the moment to go spend a little cuddle time with Ramon." The catwoman grinned. Ramon Rodriguez was a former police officer and currently a Paladin, the rank-and-file grunts of the Aegis Organization. The feline singer had taken a shine to the man, and the two of them had become close. Jack chuckled.

"Okay, but try not to get too frisky. Price wants us to be ready at sunset."

"Heh heh, don't ya worry, when that sun goes down, I'll be here. If any nasty ol' ghouls or ghosts or goblins or demons come by..." Nightcat held up her hand, an evil grin on her face as her claws lengthened. "I'll give them a...proper welcome." Jack watched the cat-woman leave, then shook his head.

 _Better Ramon than me..._ He then sighed. _Which is good. I don't deserve a girl in my life, anyway._ A little while later, Jack had showered and gotten dressed. He was now wearing a blue t-shirt depicting the shield of Captain America on it and a pair of red jeans. He put on his favorite jacket: A blue-and-white letterman jacket with a pair of red "A"s on it. As he walked, he allowed himself to think.

 _Halloween wasn't **this** crazy in our old timeline. _Jack mused. _But as Miss Price said, "We have a saying in the Marines: Adapt and Overcome."_ He looked around at the plain gray walls. _Taryn has been meaning to redecorate this place..._ He glanced at himself in the mirror and frowned. _You've been awful lucky so far, Jack._ He said to himself. _But you're going to screw up at some point. And when you do...people will die. And it will be all your fault._ Jack growled and turned away.

"I'll have to schedule another talk with the therapist." The white-haired ex-football player grumbled. The young Inhuman walked into Aegis's Common Room. It was a rather homey-looking area with an entertainment center, a pool table, and some couches to lie around and relax in. In the corner, he saw the arcade cabinet he mentioned earlier, but it was already being used.

"Whooooo, yeah!" A teenage boy whooped, pumping his fist into the air. He wore a yellow plaid shirt with a black _Back to the Future_ t-shirt underneath it, blue jeans, and black sneakers. His wrists were covered by a yellow wristband and a yellow smartwatch. His hair was in an 80s-style mullet that would make any anime protagonist from the era proud, held out of his face by a yellow headband.

 _ **Gyral. Real Name: Amir Khosrow. Birthplace: Chicago, IL. Affiliation: Aegis. Physiology: Mutant Human. Powers and Abilities: Flight, can fire golden energy beams from hands, knowledge of film history and filmmaking.**_

The son of Iranian Muslim immigrants, Amir Khosrow was known as a bit of an 80s pop culture-loving flirty quipster with a big dream: To be the next Steven Spielberg. As a kid, he and his father, a local entrepreneur/philanthropist, bonded by watching movies (American films were a big help to his parents in learning English). As a result, Amir developed a desire and love of filmmaking.

At the age of six, his parents would get him a camera for his birthday. He would use it to film everything he saw, as well as make his own movies. As he grew older, he started writing movie reviews for his school paper, and got a job at a movie theater.

Like Jack Magniconte, Amir was one of the five youths captured by Henry Clerk to perform experiments on with the Terrigen Mist. His mutant powers helped the kids escape, and he became one of the original five Agents of Aegis.

"Yeah! Yeah! That's how it's done, baby! Whoo!" Amir crowed. He started doing a funny victory dance, making the man he was playing with roll his eyes. The young Iranian-American mutant pulled a yellow smartphone out of his pocket and started filming himself bragging, making the man throw his hands up and then pinch the bridge of his nose.

"Sore winner..." The man muttered under his breath.

"You can't touch me! You can't touch me! I am the _KING_ of Street Fighter II!" Amir pulled the man to him and pointed the phone's camera at him. "Everybody knows it! Everybody knows it! Especially this man right here, Aegis's resident master of the mad wires, Haywire!"

"Oh, for God's sake..." The man groaned, facepalming incredibly hard. He was a handsome young man, with strawberry blond hair and brown eyes, wearing a green t-shirt and a pair of khaki shorts. Around his neck was a small golden chain that had a small pendant of a Star of David.

 _ **Haywire. Real Name: Harold "Hal" Danforth. Birthplace: Rose City, Willamette (Portland, Oregon), Earth-712. Affiliation: (Formerly) America Redeemers, Squadron Supreme. (Currently) Aegis. Physiology: Enhanced human. Powers and Abilities: Can create endless amounts of steel-like filament from his fingertips. Skilled martial artist, lockpicker, and guitarist.**_

Haywire was Aegis's seventh super-agent, and one with a rather complicated origin. He came from an alternate Earth whose greatest heroes were a JLA-esque group called the Squadron Supreme. When the Squadron initiated the "Utopia Program" to take over the United States, Squadron member Nighthawk quit the group and formed a resistance force called the "America Redeemers".

Hal Danforth was one of them, a young man who gained metahuman powers thanks to being exposed to gases from a strange meteorite. Nighthawk found him during his studies in college in his native Rose City, his Earth's Portland, Oregon. Nighthawk convinced him to use his powers to help him stop the Squadron. After a destructive battle that resulted in the deaths of several members of the Squadron and the Redeemers, the Utopia Program was shut down and the Squadron disbanded. During that time, Haywire found romance in another Redeemer: Edith Freiberg, aka Inertia.

This would end in tragedy. When an energy being tried to consume the Squadron-Earth's sun, Freiberg would die heroically trying to stop it. This devastated the young man, who also found himself transported to the Earth of the Avengers. When other members of the Squadron found a way back to their world, Haywire wanted to stay, as he wanted to explore the Pacific Northwest.

That time alone allowed him to wallow in his then-hidden despair over the loss of Edith. He would join a group of Avengers in an adventure where they tried to stop Thanos from killing the child of the Avenger Mantis, a child destined to bring peace to the universe. When he encountered the cosmic embodiment of Death, he pleaded with the being to bring Inertia back. Death, however, refused his pleas. Enraged, he leapt into Death's form, and died. **3**

Or so it seemed. In actuality, Haywire was brought forward in time to the lair of a supervillain known as Chronobreaker. The time-twisting madman wanted a special device that would allow him to create a timeline that he would rule for all eternity. Haywire was one of a group of other people brought forward from various points in time. He convinced Haywire to help by promising that he would use his temporal powers to save Inertia.

This brought him to battle with Aegis. During the battle, Jack Magniconte was able to convince the former hero that his actions were a betrayal of Edith's memory, and Chronobreaker had no intention of keeping his promise. Haywire would discover Jack's prediction was accurate, and surrendered to them in remorse. Seeing him as a good man who got lost (which he was), Jack and Rosalind convinced him to join Aegis as a way of redeeming himself and doing some good to honor Edith.

"You are a sore winner, kid." Haywire grumbled.

"Hey, not my fault that I'm so badass at this game." Amir laughed.

"I feel your pain, Hal." Jack told the extradimensional metahuman sympathetically. "Amir gets like that when he beats me at _Street Fighter._ "

"Do you get to smack him?" Hal grumbled. "Because I want to smack him."

"Jack- _ay!_ " Amir grinned as he ran up to his friend and the two of them fistbumped. "My Christian brother from another mother! How ya been, man?" Jack shrugged.

"Living." He looked at Hal. "Don't worry, Hal. Just keep practicing. You'll get him one day."

"Oh, you bet I will." Hal smirked, crossing his arms. "I'll get you yet, Khosrow. You'll see."

"You want another rematch, I'll give ya one, pal." Amir and Hal hi-fived. "I gotta get to work, anyway. I still have to finish editing my video review of the first _Jack Slater_ film. Hard to believe _those_ are a thing nowadays."

"Welcome to Coreline, kid." Hal teased. "Now you know how I felt when I got sent to your reality."

"Is it _really_ a good time to do that, Amir?" Jack frowned. "Halloween is here. We should get ready for something big to go down. Saotome _did_ warn us that Halloween tends to go crazy around here, and we should be on guard."

"Meh." Amir shrugged. "Jack, we're Aegis. Whatever happens, we'll kick their butts. We always have before."

"Even the greatest streaks end at some point, Amir." Jack warned sagely.

"Yeah." Hal nodded. "If the Nighthawk from my reality were here, he'd say the same thing." He winced slightly, but not beyond Jack's ability to spot.

"Hey, you okay?" The young ex-football player asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just reminded myself of Tallahassee here." Last week, Haywire investigated a super-crime in Tallahassee, Florida. There, he ran into an alternate version of his lost love, Edith Freiberg. The encounter visibly shook up the extradimensional hero, but luckily he had Quartz and Nightcat to back him up that mission. He was able to get through the mission fine enough, but Rosalind Price had Hal report in for counseling. Wisely, Haywire did what he was told. "God, I hate Coreline sometimes."

"Yeah, tell me about it." Jack nodded in agreement. "Meeting alternate versions of yourself or loved ones can be...weird. Makes you wonder how people are able to tell each other apart."

"Whatcha mean, Jack?" Amir sat down in a chair.

"Well, we live in a world where everything from fiction has become real." Jack explained. "But not just the 'mainline' or 'canon' versions. We're seeing alternate versions run around here, too. Hell, there's an alt of Qui-Gon Jinn running that Jedi Temple in town."

"Oh great, that'll totally not _add_ to the confusion." Hal groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"And it gets even _more_ crazy when you realize there are amalgams popping up." Amir added. "Like there's a Captain America running around that's also an anime character." He then snickered. "Quite a few of them would look better in Cap's suit than he ever could."

"Goes the other way around, too." Jack said. "Western superheroes having anime elements. Like that version of Black Widow we met who had that weird schoolgirl uniform, what was it called again?"

"Senketsu, from _Kill la Kill._ " Amir told him. "And oh yeah, I will _never_ forget meeting _that_ Natasha..." The Iranian-American mutant smiled dreamily. Jack blushed, and Hal snickered.

"Kids." He grinned. Amir got himself out of his trance.

"And there's that Spider-Man with the giant robot." He added. "That was pretty bad-ass."

"You mean the one that had the _Kamen Rider-_ esque suit, right?" Jack blinked.

"I think so." Amir sighed, then shook his head. "Or maybe not. Yeah, you got a point about the whole 'telling each other apart' thing."

 **Civilian Shelter #6, Portland, Oregon.**

"Bless you, young lady." The elderly woman smiled as some soup was poured into a bowl by a ladle.

"You're welcome." The teenage girl smiled from behind the counter. She was Eurasian, her dark hair in a shoulder-length bob. She wore a blue shirt with khaki shorts and white running shoes. Around her neck was a bandanna colored blue, purple, and pink. She had on a white apron, hat, and rubber gloves.

 _ **Silver Sabre. Real Name: Keiko "Kay" Miyamoto. Birthplace: Los Angeles, CA. Affiliation: Aegis. Physiology: Mutant/Inhuman hybrid. Powers and abilities: Superhuman speed (mutant), telepathic "radar" that can sense people around her (gained from Terrigenesis).**_

Heroism was in Keiko's blood. Her father Hideo Miyamoto was a Kamen Rider-esque superhero called Captain Silver in his native Japan in his younger years. Her mother Yvette was the child of Martin Fletcher, aka the former wartime superhero and X-Men villain Super Sabre. She had taken up the mantle for a while, and been a superheroine in Los Angeles. The two had retired from superheroism and raised Keiko and her younger sister Amiko...while working to reform the police department of the now Mega City of Los Angeles. Kay grew up in a loving family, but ran into friction when her own mutant powers of superspeed manifested at the age of 13.

Her mother and father, knowing full well how mutants were seen, encouraged her to keep her speed powers hidden (during her superhero days, Yvette kept her identity hidden, and claimed that she was an enhanced human), and it caused some friction between them. Things were made further rough when she came out to her family about her bisexuality. Happily, her family accepted this, but it angered Kay. Why was it okay that she could be open about her orientation, but not about her mutantcy?

In a subtle bit of rebellion, Kay would secretly practice with her super-speed, and this led her to being one of the original five Agents of Aegis, the five youths kidnapped by Henry Clerk. Clerk developed a special interest in her when he discovered something rather special about her: Not only was she a mutant, she also had Inhuman genetic markers. She was a hybrid. Something incredibly rare, if not completely unique. She used her mutant power of superspeed to help the other four youths escape, but was exposed to the Terrigen Mists, granting her a second superpower: The ability to telepathically detect people around her, like radar.

She would join up with the other four kids in Aegis, because she could be open about her powers. Reuniting with her family, Kay and her parents were able to smooth things over. She took up the codename "Silver Sabre" as a way of honoring her parents' heroism.

A beeping could be heard, and Kay looked down at her watch. The blue, silver, and white futuristic-looking watch's face was beeping, and an insignia of a slashing sword could be seen blinking. The Japanese-American girl pressed a button on the side, and a holographic image of Rosalind Price's face emanated from the watch face. "Miss Price!"

"Hello, Kay." The image smiled. "We need you at Aegis HQ. I know you like to help out with feeding people at the shelter..."

"I like to help people. Nothing wrong with that."

"Indeed. But it _is_ Halloween, and you know what can erupt on Halloween here on the Coreline..."

"Right." Keiko nodded. "I'll be there, lickety-split!" Price chuckled.

"And knowing you, that'll be true. Get over here and get ready for tonight."

"Yes, ma'am!" Kay grinned and ended the transmission. She took off her apron and hung it on a rack, then threw out her hat and gloves. "T'Laine!" She yelled out at a Vulcan woman who was watching over some cooks. "I'm sorry, but I gotta go! Aegis needs me! It's Halloween, and..."

"Very well, Keiko." The woman nodded. Her face was impassive, but her tone showed she understood. "Good luck to you and the rest of Aegis. May the Great Bird of the Galaxy watch over you." She put up the Vulcan salute. "Live long and prosper." Keiko smiled and returned the gesture.

"You too, T'Laine." She then went outside of the shelter. She found some members of Portland's Finest and several Aegis Paladins guarding the door. The Paladins' helmets left their faces uncovered, and Kay recognized one in particular.

"Eric!" She waved up at the Paladin. Said armored man was talking to a cop when he saw Keiko wave at him as she walked up to him. The man waved back.

"Hey there, Kay." Eric answered, a smile on his face.

"Congrats to you on becoming a Paladin, man!" She grinned, giving him a hug. Eric was a former supercriminal henchman who Kay had befriended and convinced to reform. "I knew you'd crush the entry trials."

"Thanks, kid." Eric smiled. "It was a lot of hard work, but it was worth it. Get better pay, and actual benefits."

"Yup. And better coffee, I bet." Kay joked.

Eric chuckled. "Yeah, yeah. I do have to admit, I am a bit nervous about something."

"What's that?"

"Well..." The Paladin rubbed the back of his head nervously. "It's just..."

"It's his first Halloween as a Paladin." A cop explained.

"Yeah." Eric nodded nervously. "I've been hearing from some of the others about how crazy Halloween can get around here, and...it's got me a bit nervous. I mean, I know we got our own Ghostbusters here to deal with the ghosts and demons and the rest of the supernatural set, but there's a lot of crazy stuff out there, and..."

"Ahhh, I see." Keiko nodded. "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a bit nervous, too. It's perfectly normal."

"Yeah, but I worry if I screw up, and if something bad happens..."

"Don't let it get to you, Eric." Kay reassured the Paladin. "You're better than you think. Banks trained you, and he said you got potential. You can do this." She smiled and put a hand on his shoulder. "You're tougher and smarter than you think. If something does happen, I think you can handle it."

"Thanks, kid." Eric said. "I appreciate it. Good luck, and be careful."

"I will!" Kay raced off in a blue blur. She zipped down the streets of Portland, heading towards Aegis HQ. On the way, the mutant/Inhuman hybrid couldn't help but notice the streets of the normally bustling city. _Man, it's_ _ **weird**_ _to see Portland like this._ She thought as she looked around. _I know that Portland likes to be kept weird, but I doubt this is what those coiners of the phrase had in mind. Still..._ she smiled as she took in the buildings. Due to the Solarpunk aesthetic of the city, the buildings looked a bit more like advanced treehouse/skycraper hybrids. _At least here, you feel you can_ _ **breathe.**_ _I hope my parents and Ami are okay, being in Los Angeles. Reforming the LAPD can be dangerous work, and I hope nothing bad happens to them..._

 **Aegis's Garage**

The ratchet turned, and its holder grunted. The holder was a tall girl, and could be described as an Amazon, curvaceous and muscular. She had dark skin and dark red hair, pulled back in a ponytail. Around her neck and wrists were jewelry done in the style of the Choctaw tribe. She wore a red polo shirt and blue jeans, with brown cowboy boots.

 _ **Chrome. Real Name: Jennifer "Jen" Swann. Birthplace: Amarillo, TX. Affiliation: Aegis. Physiology: Inhuman. Powers and abilities: Can transform skin into organic metal. In metal form, Chrome has superhuman strength and near-invulnerability.**_

Jennifer Swann was born to an African-American father and a Native American mother. Her mother, Norma Amerman-Swann, was a prominent artist and member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. Her father, Carl Swann, was an engineer. Growing up, the tomboyish Jennifer was shown to have quite the brain, and loved fixing vehicles. In high school, she got herself a job working as a mechanic at a local garage in her native Amarillo, wanting to help save money for college.

Those plans would be derailed as she would be one of the original five teenagers that Henry Clerk kidnapped. During their escape, she was exposed to the Terrigen Mists, causing her to undergo Terrigenesis. She discovered that she could turn her flesh into metal, terrifying her and leaving her with the fear that she would lose her humanity. She had joined up with Aegis in the hopes of being cured of her powers, but eventually grew to accept them.

"Well, this armored tank of a truck is workin' fine." She closed the hood of the vehicle, a dark blue futuristic-looking pickup truck. She called up at the cab. "Yo, Cortez! You done in there?!"

"Just about!" Another voice added. This one belonged to a lanky teen Hispanic boy, with short black hair and brown eyes. He wore a purple t-shirt with the Fiends and Fjords logo on it in rainbow colors, and khaki shorts. He was typing into a laptop that was linked to the truck's onboard computer. "There we go!" He smiled proudly.

 _ **Quartz. Real Name: Andrew Cortez (born Andrea Cortez). Birthplace: Orlando, FL. Affiliation: Aegis. Physiology: Inhuman. Powers and Abilities: Can create constructs out of purple crystal.**_

The future Inhuman known as Quartz had a bit of a rough childhood. His mother Anitere wanted a daughter after having three sons. When Andy was born, she was overjoyed. However, something would happen to complicate that. From a young age, the future Quartz would insist on being referred to and dressed as a boy. At first, his family thought it was a phase, but as he grew older, it continued. His father Vincente and his three brothers got used to it, as they felt it was harmless. Anitere, though, was extremely unhappy with this. When Andy was taken to counseling, the family learned that Andy was transgender. Vincente and the boys accepted it, but Anitere did not take it as well.

The future Quartz was the first of the five youths captured by Clerk. He had already been exposed to the Terrigen Mist and was in a Terrigen cocoon when the others found him. He emerged from the cocoon with the power to create purple crystalline constructs, and much to his joy, a male body. Upon reuniting with his family, Vincente and Quartz's brothers were happy to see him back, but Anitere was horrified by his transformation. She stormed away, blaming Aegis and her husband for what she considered the death of her daughter. She would divorce Vincente, and marry another man, but still held a grudge against Andy.

Like in his family, Andy was the youngest of the original five Agents of Aegis, and s such, he was seen as the "little brother" of the group.

"So..." Jen asked as she walked up to the cabin. "What're you doin' up there?"

"Just checking the programming on this truck's computer." Andy explained. "It's been a while since that Ultron Virus invaded the tech here."

"I thought we purged all of it a couple of days ago."

"Never hurts to double check." Andy responded. "That Virus was some nasty business. I want to make absolutely sure that the Virus didn't wreck us completely." He looked over the screen some more.

"Andy, you're gonna go mad if ya keep doing that." Jen warned him.

"...yeah, I suppose you're right." The crystal-spinner sighed. "Maybe I'm just a bit paranoid. Halloween is coming, and it promises to bring some genuine frights."

"I hear you. All I wanted was to be an engineer. Do a real job. But then I get superpowers, and now I do this."

"I love it." Andy smiled. "Aegis is the first place where I could truly be myself."

"Shame about your mother, though."

Andy sighed. "...she chose her path. I have to accept she'll never see me for who I am. I'm just happy my dad and my brothers do."

"Yeah, they're a good bunch." Jenny smiled.

"You know..." A grin broke out on Andy's face. "I've been hearing some stories about some past Halloweens here on the Coreline, and I think they would make for some fantastic F&F campaigns."

"If ya say so." Jen shrugged. "I'm not really into that stuff."

"You should give it a try." Andy encouraged. "Tabletop Role-Playing is a ton of fun. Me and some other fans do a session every week. You should join us. It's a great way to stretch the imagination."

"Do I _look_ like someone who plays F&F?"

"Anyone can do it." Andy said, shrugging. "Heck, I can help you with a character sheet. I made one for everybody, and I don't want you to be left out."

"Let me guess, you made me a bard or something goofy like that, right?"

"Nope, Fighter/Blacksmith." Andy smiled. "I'm a Wizard/Warmage, I made Kay a Bandit/Rogue, Jack a Knight/Marshal, and Amir a Noble/Wizard. I also made Jacqueline a Seeker/Druid with an affinity for felines. I'm working on sheets for Hal, Miss Price, Mr. Banks, and Miss Fujioka."

"Wow. Sounds like you spent a lot of time and thought on those."

"Jack was the easiest." Andy shrugged. "The rest of you required a lot more thought. I wanted classes that fit you guys and your abilities." The Cuban-American Inhuman then blinked. "And I just had a thought."

"What?"

"Well...considering we're in the Coreline and all..." Andy rubbed the back of his head. "I was reading through my monster guide, and I just realized something. The monsters in my F&F guide...we may have to face them. Karnors are easy, just devious and we have to be careful of traps. But if we face something like the Mindripper...Hoo boy..."

"...I have no idea what any of those things are."

"Ha ha, I have to get you a copy of the F&F Monster Guide." Andy smiled. "And I wouldn't worry. Miindrippers don't exist on this physical plane."

"Oh, good." Jen rolled her eyes.

"And if we do end up in a situation if we have to fight one, we can face it. They can create an anti-magic zone, but since none of us use magic, that won't be a problem for us."

"Greeeeeeeat." Jen sighed. "Well, we're all done down here. I dunno about you, but I could use a drink."

"Me, too." Andy nodded. "Fixing computers has got me parched."

"Andy, I have no idea how _that_ can get you parched." Jen shook her head as the two walked out of the garage.

Andy smiled. "Jen girl, programming is harder work than you think." He said sagely.

"Ya just sit on yer butt and type!" Jen retorted as the two continued on their way. "You want to tire yourself out? Try turning wrenches. That'll tucker you out real good."

"Considering the physical stuff we do as Agents of Aegis, I think we manage to, as you say, 'tucker ourselves out real good'." He approached a drink machine. "Sodas? My treat."

"What a gentleman." Jen smiled, nodding. "Get me some of that Citrus Crush." A couple of hours later, Rosalind Price was in her office, looking out at the skyline of Portland. She was still amazed at the city. It reminded her of a giant forest, the city's buildings looking like a perfect union of tree and skyscraper. She looked up at the setting sun.

 _God, the sunsets here are so beautiful._ She thought to herself as she sipped her coffee. _And this coffee is pretty good, too. I'm going to have to find out where it comes from...probably locally grown considering all the greenhouses around here..._

"Miss Price?" Price turned around and saw Taryn walk in. The public relations expert held her tablet nervously.

"You alright, Taryn?" Price asked in concern. Taryn nodded.

"It's just...I've been talking to one of the Ghostbusters here, because they've been here longer than we have, and well...I'm a bit nervous."

Price smiled. "You're not the only one."

"Really?"

"Yup." Price nodded. "We have no idea what we'll be facing in the Coreline. I've been talking to Unglighter myself, and she's warned us that there may be demons involved."

"Really?"

"Yeah. It's nothing we haven't handled before." Price nodded. "And we managed to reunite with a couple old friends, and make some new friends here, so we have some help. We'd better call them."

"Already on that."

"Good." Price nodded in satisfaction. "Then we had better...huh?"

"What's wrong?" Taryn asked in confusion as Price slowly approached the windows. She noticed the sky getting redder. "What's going on? What's with the sky?"

Price scowled. "I've been told when the sky is like this...when the sky is red...we got a Crisis on our hands."

 _ **Well, well, well! Looks like Coreline's Portland is going to have one heck of a Halloween party! What insanity will happen next? Can our heroes keep the City of Roses safe? What threats will they face on this night? Who are Aegis's friends Price are talking about? Find out in the next chapter!**_

 ***1 - Price having German heritage is a nod to Constance Zimmer, who played Price in _Agents of SHIELD._ Zimmer is of German ancestry. **

***2 - This happened in _Nightcat #1_ (June 1992), her only appearance in comics.**

 ***3 - Haywire first appeared in _Squadron Supreme #10_ (June, 1986), got exiled to Earth-616 in _the Graphic Novel Squadron Supreme: Death of a Universe_ (1989), and died in _Avengers: Celestial Quest #8_ (June, 2002). His gaining his powers, return, and being Jewish are my additions to the character and his history.**


	2. Meet Aegis's Allies!

**Coreline: Invasion of Portland**

 **Disclaimer: "That belongs in a museum!" - Indiana Jones**

 **Chapter 2: Meet Aegis's Allies!**

 **Aegis Organization HQ, Portland, Oregon**

Rosalind Price looked out the window at the sky. It had turned a blood red in color. The former Marine winced as she heard the thunder crack. It was soon followed by a flash of lightning. She could have sworn that she saw the bolt in the air. Pity whatever that bolt hit.

"...and here we go." She muttered. According to one of Aegis's allies, the sky turning red only meant one thing: A crisis was here.

"Miss Price, Miss Price!" Taryn panted as she ran into the office. "You seeing that sky?"

"Oh, yeah." Price nodded. "This is it. No time left."

"We should call the kids to meet."

"Indeed." Price concurred. "Have them gather in the meeting room." Her monitor chirped. She ran over to it and turned it on. "Talk to me!" The face of Rachel Unglighter appeared on the screen.

"Price!" The blonde half-demon said. "We got a _massive_ PKE spike here!"

"The skies are going red, too!" Price added. "We got a Crisis on our hands!" She whirled around to Taryn. "Have you made any contact with any of our allies?"

"Yes, ma'am! I've called everyone I can reach! They're on their way!"

"Tell them to get a move on if they can! I want them here _yesterday!_ "

"Yes, ma'am!" Taryn ran out of the room, talking on her phone.

"Hope those allies of yours can do some good." Unglighter remarked.

Price smirked at the Norwegian-American woman. "I got some powerhouses on speed dial."

When the skies turned a blood red, the various heroes in Aegis were...mentally preparing for anything, in their own way.

 **Quartz's Quarters**

Andy Cortez was happily humming as he sat at a table, a small thin paintbrush in hand. He smiled as he looked at the unpainted figure in his hand. It depicted an orc, holding up a large battleaxe, its face in an angry roar.

"Don't you worry, Mr. Orc." Andy spoke to the figure, as if it was alive and needed some assurance. "Once I paint you up, you'll be ready to rampage through villages." He smiled as he dipped the paintbrush into a small container of sickly green-colored paint. Using a steady and well-practiced hand, the crystal-spinner started to paint the figure, deftly moving the paintbrush around as the figure slowly went from plain gray all over to sickly green-colored skin with dark hair and clad in blood-red armor with silver spikes. Andy smiled in pride.

"There you go." The Hispanic Inhuman nodded with pride as he put the freshly-painted orc on a shelf. "Now, once you dry off, you'll be ready to rampage." He then looked out the window at the setting sun. _Man, that looks beautiful. Coreline may be a planetary-scale insane asylum, but the sunsets here are so nice._ He then noticed that the sky was getting...redder. Andy blinked in confusion. "What on Earth?"

 _ **Beep! Beep!**_

"Wah!" Andy jumped up. "Geez!" He clutched his chest and glared at the sky. "I don't think I'll ever get used to that blasted klaxon."

 _ **All Agents, please report to the meeting room.**_

"Looks like something wicked this way comes..." Andy muttered. He, for some odd reason known only to him, grabbed a book nearby and ran out of the room.

 **Chrome's Quarters**

"Let's see what cars are available here." The Texan girl mumbled to herself as she flopped down on the couch, an object in her hand. It was a copy of _Auto Trader_. The Texan Inhuman opened up the magazine as she laid back, placing her head on the couch. "That pickup truck is pretty nice...too bad it's so expensive. And I'll have to modify it to fit the environmental standards around here, but that won't be a problem at all..." She sat up and tossed her magazine on the table, accidentally knocking off a decoration.

 _ **Foomf!**_

The decoration was a small silver statue given to her as a gift by a schoolchild she saved from a Bio-Borg attack a week earlier. Luckily, the tough material it was made from, and the fact that it landed on a carpeted area, prevented any damage. Chrome picked it up and looked it over, a small smile on her face.

"Heh." The mechanic-turned-heroine chuckled as she put the statue back on the table. "I gotta watch my own strength." The alarm klaxon went off. "Huh?"

 _ **All agents, please report to the meeting room.**_

"Yup, somethin' big is going down." She then noticed the sky, and its increasing redness. "Yup. That sky don't look good."

 **Silver Sabre's Quarters**

" _Come on everybody take trip with me!"_ The man sang on the TV screen. Keiko was playing a movie on her TV, while she herself was standing and practicing.

"Around the world, ha ha!" Kay whooped as she twirled a blue yo-yo around her head. The yo-yo itself was not an ordinary children's toy, but it certainly could function as one. The blue yo-yo bore an emblem of a slashing sword on each of its disks. The emblem was one that Kay had adopted from her maternal ancestor: Martin Fletcher, the Super Sabre. **4**

The yo-yo's disks, axel, and string were all made of special materials designed for durability and smoothness, allowing Kay to not only use the yo-yo for various tricks, but also as a weapon. This was one of a pair of twin "Combat yo-yos" that Kay was known to wield when battling various forms of evil.

At incredible speed, the Japanese-American mutant-Inhuman hybrid did some tricks with her Combat Yo-Yo. She twirled and spun with the modified toy, her and it acting as one. With a whizzing noise, the powerful micromotor inside the toy caused the yo-yo to come into her hand.

"Heh heh. Still got it." Kay grinned. She then eyed a cup, containing what appeared to be a chocolate milkshake inside with a neon blue straw sticking out. The milkshake was made with a special paste. Being a speedster, Kay had a very high metabolism. As such, she needed to consume large amounts of calories, hence her constant snacking. Aegis reverse-engineered the special paste that Ezekiel Stane used to keep up with his enhanced body's caloric demands. **4** Kay found the paste bland, but discovered that she could mix it with ice cream or other things to make smoothies. As such, they became a regular snack for her, always changing it up by mixing the paste with new things. Chocolate, Vanilla, and Orange became personal favorites, though.

Kay stared out the window, looking out at the skyline of the city as she enjoyed her smoothie. She blinked at the sky.

"Hey, is the sky getting...red? Aw, this must be it..." She heard the klaxon.

 _ **All agents, please report to the meeting room.**_

"Yup." Kay nodded. "This is definitely it."

 **Gyral's Quarters**

" _I have my orders!"_ Arnold Schwarzenegger as Ivan Danko yelled in a Russian accent on the screen. Amir was writing some notes on a notepad with yellow paper.

"This'll make a fun video..." The Iranian-American mutant mumbled to himself in excitement. He was working on a video critique of the 1988 film _Red Heat._ "I do have to admit, some parts could have been done better...Nn..." He got up and stretched, then grabbed the remote and paused the TV. "Ugh, I'm thirsty..." He then noticed the window as he walked to the fridge. "Huh. What a weird sky." He pulled out a cold bottle of water. "Didn't think it could get that red." He then realized something. "Aw man, is this one of those Crisis things?" He heard the klaxon.

 _ **All agents, please report to the meeting room.**_

"Oh, yeah. This is _definitely_ going to be one of those Crisis things." He sipped his water and glared at the sky. "Man, this time of year should be about seeing hot babes in sexy outfits."

 **All-American's Quarters**

" _Touchdown!_ " The screen whooped.

"Yeah!" Jack grinned, pumping his fist. "That's how the Smashers do it! Yeah!" The young ex-football player was feeling happy. He was watching an old football game, and he was rooting for one of his favorite teams, the Sacramento Smashers. Ever since he was a kid, Jack loved football. He even collected all the Madden video games. He reached to a bowl that was full of chips, but noticed it was empty. "Oh. I need more chips." He got up to grab another bag of chips, when he noticed the sky. "What?"

The puzzled Inhuman slowly approached the window. "Aw, no...I've heard of this...we got a Crisis on our hands." He heard the alarm klaxon.

 _ **All agents, please report to the meeting room.**_

Jack's jaw set. "Yup." The white-haired Inhuman noted. "We got a Crisis. I just hope we survive it...and I don't get anyone killed."

 **Haywire's Quarters**

 _Halloween is here._ Hal Danforth wrote in a journal. _I gotta admit, I am rather nervous. Here in the Coreline, it's the insanity of both my old worlds, but turned up to..._

"Naw, not eleven." Hal mumbled to himself as he tapped the desk with a pen. "One hundred and eleven. Yeah, that is _definitely_ appropriate." He continued to write in his journal. It was part of his therapy and rehabilitation after joining Aegis. It was suggested that writing a journal would allow the young man to help work through his issues. It as something the filament generator found very helpful. It was also something that allowed him to work through his feelings when it came to the Coreline.

As Hal wrote, he started to remember something Amir said to him. The Iranian-American mutant suggested he take his journals and publish them into a book. The other Aegis agents knew about Hal's journals, but never read through them out of respect for his privacy. It generated some...mixed feelings for the extradimensional metahuman.

On one hand, it would allow him to earn a little extra money, and it did show off that he did cultivate a talent for writing. On the other hand, these journals did contain some of his most private thoughts. Understandably, he was rather nervous about the idea of others reading it. He found himself chewing on his pen in thought.

"Maybe I should talk to Price about it." He muttered to himself. "After all, I don't want to get into trouble." Hal frowned as he looked over the journal. "I'll just tell her that it was Amir's idea. That might help." He looked out the window at the reddening sky. "Eh, I'll have to wait until this whole Halloween crisis blows over." He chuckled and shook his head. "Heh. Man, the more things change..." He heard the alert klaxon.

 _ **All agents, please report to the meeting room.**_

"Welp..." Haywire muttered as he got up. "Time for action." He closed up his journal and left the room.

 **Nightcat's Quarters**

"WAH!" The man yelled as he tripped over a hassock and hit the ground face-first. A laugh track started to play.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Jacqueline cackled. The cat-woman was lying on a couch in her quarters, watching some TV. She was cuddled up next to a handsome man with neatly-cut short hair and just as neatly-trimmed beard. In her lap, she had a tub of popcorn. "That Tolliver will always end up flat on his face!" The man started stroking her shoulder, making her purr happily.

"You really love this old show, huh?" Ramon Rodriguez smiled at the feline metahuman.

"Yup." She smiled. "I used to watch it with my dad growing up."

"My dad and I bonded by fixing motorcycles."

"Yeah, I saw that hog of yours." She smiled at the Paladin. "When are you going to let _me_ ride that baby? I promise I'll be gentle." Ramon frowned at the catwoman.

"I saw you on practice riding in the simulator." He said. "When you're on a bike, you treat road signs like _options._ "

"Aw, come on, Ramon!" Jacqueline begged. "I just have some laughs in the simulator. But I will be careful for real. _Pleeeeeease?_ " She put on her cutest face. Ramon rolled his eyes.

"Girl, I'd rather take you to the fish market again. You'd do less damage."

"...I was hungry." She grumbled. She then shuddered.

"Hey, you okay?" Ramon asked in concern. She nodded.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks. It's just...I've been getting the heebie-jeebies today. I told you about the stray cats thing, right?"

"Yeah." Ramon nodded. "It's thought you're gaining some new instincts from your being partially feline now."

Jacqueline nodded. "Yeah. I think so, too." She frowned. "It's related to Halloween. And since Halloween at the Coreline can be crazy..." She then turned her head and her eyes widened as she looked at the sky. "Hey, Ramon."

"Yeah?"

"...Look at the sky."

"Huh?" Ramon turned and saw the sky from out the large window. "Is it just me or is the sky...turning red?"

"Yeah..." The singer/superheroine slowly approached the window. She let out a hiss. "Whatever's out there...it's got my hackles raised." Ramon blinked as he saw the red sky.

"...wow."

"Yeah." She winced when she saw some lightning flash by and some thunder crack. "That doesn't sound good." The two heard the alarm klaxon.

 _ **All agents, please report to the meeting room.**_

Ramon and Jacqueline looked at each other.

"Looks like we got more than one kind of storm coming." The Paladin said.

"Yup." Jacqueline agreed. She touched Ramon's cheek. "Try not to get yourself killed, huh?"

"You too, hon." He smiled. The two then shared a kiss. Jacqueline purred.

"You make it through this babe, I'll wear that special costume I got for you." The feline singer purred seductively. Ramon smirked.

"Heh. Thanks for the additional motivation, love." The Paladin chuckled. "If you make it, I'll give you that back massage you've been wanting."

"Ooh, now _that_ is some motivation..." Nightcat purred. Later, Aegis's septet of young and adult super-agents had gathered in a meeting room. The seven were doing some various activities to pass the time. Keiko was leaning on a wall playing with a yo-yo. Amir was watching a movie on a tablet. Andy was reading a fantasy novel. Jen was playing a video game. Jacqueline was texting on her phone, while quietly singing along to some music she was listening to. Hal was doing a bit of sketching. The extradimensional superhuman looked over at Jack, who was lying forward, his head on his arms. It looked like the snowy-haired teenage Inhuman was asleep. Hal frowned.

"Jack?" He lightly tapped the younger man. "Kid, wake up."

"Sorry, I wasn't sleeping." Jack mumbled.

"...Are you alright?" Hal asked with concern.

"...yeah, I'm fine."

"You sure? I know the others have told me about your depression and all..."

"Yeah, but I do take my meds, so..." Jack sighed. "Before missions, I always get scared. Scared that I'll screw up and get someone hurt...or worse."

"I think that's something all leaders go through, man. But if it helps, I think you're doing a good job." Hal smiled. Amir looked up from his tablet. "You convinced me I made a terrible mistake. Remember? When I agreed to help the Chronobreaker because he promised me that he'd bring 'Nertia back?"

Jack nodded. "I remember. I convinced you that Chronobreaker wouldn't keep his promises."

"Yeah." Hal confirmed with a nod. "You sounded so confident when you did."

"It's not like I just feel down for a little while." Jack reminded. "That's normal. In my case, there's something wrong with my brain. It doesn't work quite right."

"Yeah, I hear you." Hal nodded. "Look, if it does, I think you'll do alright. I mean, I haven't been with this team long, but I got your back, kid."

"Man's right, Jackie." Amir grinned. "You got us through everything alright so far. Heck, you got us out of that lab, when the rest of us were all freaking out."

"We also got lucky Aegis was there when we escaped." Jack countered. "We had no idea what to do after we fled the lab."

Amir waved it off. "Ah, I'm sure we could have thought of something."

"Confident, ain't ya kid?" Hal frowned.

"Can you blame me?"

"Overconfidence will get you killed. Nighthawk taught me that."

Jen looked over at Keiko. "Hey Kay, when's Price coming to brief us? You'd think with something this damned important, she'd show up."

"She's coming." Keiko shrugged, staring at her yo-yo. A door hissed, and said woman walked in. "And here she is!"

"Great, you're all here." Price nodded in approval. "Kay, take a seat. Everyone at attention." Everyone obeyed...except for one. Price smiled at Quartz. "Andy..." He looked up.

"Oh, sorry." He closed his book, and Price chuckled.

"Mama's boy." Amir teased good-naturedly, which got him a light swat on the arm from the Cuban-American Inhuman.

"As you all know, Halloween is here." Price told the group. "The Ghostbusters branch here in Portland has alerted me to a massive spike in PKE readings."

"Oh, hell..." Jen winced.

"That's not good..." Andy hissed.

"Yup, my hackles can agree with that..." Jacqueline muttered.

"You alright, Nightcat?" Keiko asked.

"Yeah, just the PKE spikes got my instincts a-flarin'."

"Are we equipped to handle this kind of thing?" Jack frowned. "This really isn't our specialty."

"Don't you worry, Jack." Price smirked. "Aegis has got themselves some nice new toys just for this situation." Amir's eyes widened and he leapt to his feet, smacking the table in the process.

"Please tell us they're giant robots! _PLEASE ALLAH TELL US THEY'RE GIANT ROBOTS!_ " Amir begged.

"Like anyone would be dumb enough to let _you_ pilot a mech." Jennifer scowled. "Last time you piloted one, you nearly crashed into the city hall!"

"That was _not_ my fault!" Amir countered. "That blasted Petey Piranha spat paint all over the cockpit windows! I couldn't see!"

"And you still nearly crashed into city hall!" Jennifer said. "The damn mech had radar!"

"I panicked!"

"You nearly _crashed into city hall!_ " Jennifer repeated in a louder voice.

"Calm down, you two." Price ordered. "Now is not the time for this. In fact, I'm not sure how much time we have, so I want to make this brief." She moved to the head of the table. "It's Halloween on the Coreline, which means we may have to deal with a full-scale demonic invasion." Quartz shot a glance at his book.

 _If fiction comes to life in the Coreline, then it makes sense that we may have to deal with some of the monsters here..._ The young Inhuman thought. He clenched his jaw. "I have to warn the others."

"Good thing we're not the only heroes in town, then." Nightcat remarked.

"Yes." Price nodded. "We have no idea what we're going to face out there, so I want to warn all of you: Be on your guard, and expect God-knows-what. I contacted Saotome, and he said-" A klaxon was heard, and red lights in the ceiling flashed. _Guess I'm out of time._ She pressed a button on the monitor behind her and Luther Banks's face appeared. "Talk to me, Banks!"

"We got demons out there!" He exclaimed. "Portals started opening up in various locations, and we got reports of demons pouring in!"

"Right!" Price nodded and shut off the monitor. "Move out, Aegis. Good luck, and be careful out there!" The group got up, and left the room. Andy looked around a bit nervously.

"Uh, guys..." He mumbled.

"What's up, Andy?" Jack asked.

"You guys may want to keep in mind something." The crystalspinner warned.

"Keep what in mind?"

"Well..." Andy looked down at his book. "We are in the Coreline, and here, fiction can come to life. As such..." He opened his Fiends and Fjords Monster Guide to a random page and held it up. "We may encounter creatures like this. Something to keep in mind."

"Is that a snake?" Jennifer sneered at the image of the blue snake-like creature in the book. "I hate snakes."

"It's called a _biscione_." Andy explained. "And yeah, they can be mean."

 **Portland, Oregon**

Three demons stalked down a street in North Portland. The three had failed to find any humans to terrorize or maul so far, and they were getting frustrated. They passed by an alley, and unknown to them, a pair of blue-glowing eyes were staring at them. One of the demons straggled behind its two companions, and the mysterious being in the alley saw an opportunity.

"Guh-!" The demon grunted out as a pair of hands grabbed the demon and dragged it into the alleyway. The demon tried to cry for help, but found itself unable to even put out a whisper. It felt something very sharp...and cold...piercing its lung.

"Ah, so you _can_ be killed like a human. Good." The demon's eyes widened as the voice whispered into its ear. "I admit, my knowledge of your anatomy is rather limited. Learn something new." The demon looked up and saw a gleaming knife being raised. Its eyes widened as it saw the knife was made...of ice. "You are not welcome here."

 _ **SHLAP!**_

The mysterious figure slashed the demon across the throat with the ice dagger, and tossed its dead body down. He then grabbed the body and dragged it out of the alley with him. The two demons noticed their companion was missing, and looked back at the alley.

"Gentlemen!" The figure announced as he walked out and held up the demon's corpse. "I believe this is your friend here?" The two demons' eyes widened in outrage at the man.

He was a tall, sleek-bodied man, with eyes a cool brownish-blue. His dress was rather unusual: A pair of jeans and black sneakers, but his upper half was covered by a blue jacket, a black vest, with white shirt and blue tie. Oddly, the man was wearing a blue Inverness cape and matching deerstalker.

 _ **Iceman II. Real Name: Jerome "Jerry" Chang. Birthplace: San Francisco, CA. Affiliations: X-Men (Honorary), Aegis. Physiology: Inhuman. Powers and abilities. Cryokinesis.**_

Jerome Chang was a Chinese-American born to a family he himself described as "painfully average, but still very warm and loving". At a young age, Jerry was discovered to be brilliant in mind, but also shy...and had a high-functioning form of autism. At the age of six, Jerry was given a copy of _The Hound of the Baskervilles_ by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, as he had become a voracious reader. He became a lifelong fan of Sherlock Holmes, as well as aspired to be a detective like his fictional hero.

To help him relate to other kids better, Jerry was given martial-arts classes. He excelled at it, and it helped him blossom in a way, finding some friends. At the age of eighteen, Jerry enrolled in the Army to help pay for college. While serving as an unarmed combat instructor, he helped some agents of CID, the Army's criminal investigation division, solve a mystery that baffled them. Impressed by this, an official pulled some strings to bring the young man on board to be an agent, despite his not meeting several requirements.

After his Army tenure, Jerry returned home and started working at a private detective agency, hoping to start his own one day. That was when the Terrigen Clouds hit. Jerry, having Inhuman genes, underwent Terrigenesis, and emerged with cryokinetic powers. Contrary to some people's beliefs, Jerry didn't take on the "Iceman" codename to honor the original Iceman: Robert Drake, but it was a nickname he got in his Army days to his cool nature under pressure. Jerry would later on meet Bobby Drake, and the two men surprisingly became friends.

But that was the past. That was another world. This was now, and this was Coreline. He had heard the distress signal from Rosalind Price of Aegis. He had just wrapped up a case, and he was hoping to get some relaxation in and catch up on that mystery series on Netflix. But it was Halloween, and the cosmos seemed to conspire to ruin the night for him.

 _No rest for the wicked..._ Jerry mentally grumbled. _And I **hate** it when monsters ruin my routine..._The demons roared with rage and charged the detective. Jerry formed another ice dagger in his free hand and made a martial arts pose. "Let's go!" The demons snarled in rage and charged at the Inhuman private detective. Jerry charged at them, firing an ice beam from his hand. The beam froze the ground between the demons. The Inhuman fell to his knees and slid between the demons, dodging their swipes. As he passed by them, he slashed at their legs, hurting them. When he reached the end of the frozen area, he whipped around and tossed his ice daggers.

 _ **CHOK! CHOK!**_

The daggers embedded themselves in the demons' heads, right between their eyes. They collapsed, dead. He then heard more demons roaring and charging towards him. Jerry glared at them and clenched his fists. They started to glow a light blue, and cold smoke started to rise from them.

 _ **BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!**_

Some of the demons got vaporized into mists of pink smoke and ash.

 _ **FZOW! FZOW!**_

Bolts of pink energy came down and vaporized some others. The demons screamed and ran in fear. Jerry frowned in confusion.

"What on Earth?" His brain quickly got to work on who...or _what_ was his savior. In Coreline, it could be literally anything.

"Over here, pal!" A voice called. Jerry looked up in the direction of the voice and saw a man walking up to him. The man was about thirty years old, clad in a yellow jacket and black t-shirt with matching pants. He also had on black boots. His belt doubled as a bandolier, loaded with small golden bullet-like casings. He wore what appeared to be Dr. Strange's Cloak of Levitation, the clasp being the Eye of Agamotto. His fire-red hair went down to his shoulders, and he had a handlebar moustache. He also wore a yellow cowboy hat. In his hand was a futuristic-looking golden gun. **1**

With him was a petite, slender woman with big brown eyes, long black hair, and a gentle smile on her face. The hair at her bangs was white, and she had a big black spot over her right eye, which stood out against her pale skin. She wore a pair of purple boots, and pink leggings with black interlocking circles on them. Much of her frame was covered by a pink poncho, but it did show she wore a purple shirt with a white tie. **2**

"Doctor Starwind. Melfina." Jerry noted as the two figures approached them. The space bounty hunter/sorcerer smirked as Melfina waved with a smile.

"Howdy, Jerry. Good thing me and the crew were in town."

"Looking for trouble, no doubt." The Inhuman detective frowned. "I thought you lot would be out in space."

"We were." Gene explained. "We came to Portland to resupply, and then Hell decides to come and visit. Also, we picked up Price's call for help. Figured my Caster gun would be a good hand here."

"You are not affiliated with Aegis." Jerry frowned. "I can assume the _Outlaw Star_ 's computer picked it up."

"Are you alright, Jerry?" The bio-android asked. "I can fix you up with a healing spell."

"If you came a few seconds later, I _would_ have needed a healing spell or five." Jerry told Melfina.

"Glad we were able to reach you in time, then." Melfina smiled.

"Indeed." Another voice purred in Jerry's ear. "Wouldn't want you...too damaged, would we?"

 _Oh, God..._ The Chinese-American frowned as he blushed and pulled down his deerstalker in an attempt to hide his face. _Times like this, I wish I had my predecessor's...immunity to feminine charms._

"Stop it, Aisha." Melfina frowned. "You _know_ that makes him blush." Another woman slinked up to them from behind Jerry. This one was clearly a feline-esque woman, her greenish-gray skin having stripes on it and red spots around her green eyes. She had white hair tied into a braid ended by a golden ring. Her brown eyes shone with mirth. She was clad in a black bustier-like top and dark red pants. The pants had the emblem of the C'tarl Empire on the sides. She had on black boots and a silver belt with a pair of holsters at the sides. Strapped into the holsters were a pair of daggers. **3**

"Miss Clan-Clan..." Jerry frowned, trying to will his blush away. _Why couldn't she bother my predecessor? At the very least, her dealing with his...immunity to feminine wiles would be humorous._

"You alright, Jerry?" Melfina asked in concern.

"He looks so handsome blushing like that." Aisha smirked.

"Knock it off, Kitty." Gene taunted. "What the hell were those things the missus and I just blasted?"

"Demons, Starwind." Jerry answered. "Demons. Never had those in your old world?"

"Not like those. Closest I encountered before becoming Sorcerer Supreme of my reality was Harry MacDougall." Melfina shuddered, and Aisha frowned.

"That _tyfran_ cyborg." The C'tarl woman grumbled. "He's like that Earth insect, what's it called?"

"Cockroach." Jerry told her. "You're thinking of a cockroach."

"Right. A cock-roach." Aisha nodded, sounding the insect's name out like she wanted to be sure it was pronounced correctly. "He really doesn't seem to get the hint, does he?"

"Gene and I got _married_ not long after we came to this world, and he _still_ won't take the hint!" Melfina exclaimed in frustration.

"I thought you bunch killed him." Jerry frowned in confusion.

"So did we." Gene grumbled.

"I'll have to hunt down a spell that'll allow me to turn him into a toad or something like that." Melfina sighed. "This world has magicians coming out of its ears. Can't be hard to find one."

"Chang!" A female voice called out to the Inhuman detective. Jerry turned and saw a woman landing near him. This woman was a blonde bombshell, wearing a blue costume with a red skirt, red boots, and her blonde hair kept out of her face by a red headband. Her shirt bore the famous logo of Superman, and there was red going from the top of the symbol over her shoulders. She was carrying a man in her arms.

"Kara." Jerry noted. Kara Zor-El smiled.

"Jerry. I take it you got the call from Price, too?" Supergirl surmised.

"Indeed." Jerry jerked his thumb at Gene, Melfina, and Aisha. "These three happened be in town."

"Hello, Kara." Melfina waved with a smile. "How're things going for you here in the Coreline?"

"I'm...adjusting." Kara answered. The last thing this Kara remembered was dying in her cousin's arms in a universe comprised of anti-matter. **4** Then she woke up here in the Coreline, confused and alone. Her confusion only increased when she met alternate versions of herself and her cousin, as well as many characters she thought were fictional and odd amalgams beyond her imagination. She was heartbroken when she discovered she was stuck in this crazy world, and had no way to go home. However, Kara Zor-El was a resilient woman, and figured maybe she had a second chance here. She looked up at the sky and shuddered.

"You alright?" The man with her asked. She nodded.

"Yeah, thanks Scott." Kara nodded. The man, Scott, was a slim man with neat brown hair, his eyes covered by a golden visor with a red line across it. He wore a yellow polo shirt with blue jeans, and a dark blue bomber jacket. His belt's buckle was an odd silver device that resembled an engine with the X-Men's X-circle logo at the center. An alt of Scott "Cyclops" Summers, he was rather unusual as he not just access to his standard mutant powers, but another power...

"Cyclops." Jerry nodded. "I take it you got the call?"

"Yup. I had just come back after helping Kara with a case in Texas. She and I got the call from Price, and Superwoman here hustled us over."

"Glad you all are here." Jerry nodded. Scott looked at Doctor Starwind and "Lucky" Melfina.

"You must be that space sorcerer. Gene Starwind, right?"

"Doctor Starwind. Yup." Doctor Starwind nodded. "The Outlaw Star had come here to Earth to resupply, and everything had gone nuts. So we figured we'd stick around and give a hand."

"Good thing we did." Melfina smiled. "Poor Jerry here may have ended up...in a bad place."

"Indeed." Jerry nodded. "We need to get to Aegis HQ."

"We can take the Outlaw Star." Doctor Starwind offered. "Jim and Suzuka have gone to be done loading the ship by now."

"Appreciate the ride." Scott smiled. He looked over at Kara, who was still staring up at the sky. "Kara? You still with us."

"Oh. Sorry." The Kryptonian woman mumbled. "It's just that...I've seen the sky like this before."

"One of those 'crisis' things, right?" Jerry deduced. "From your old universe?"

Kara nodded. "Yeah. Last time I saw the sky like this...it was a big crisis...and I died."

"I can imagine a lot of people here on the Coreline have met the Grim Reaper at least once." Jerry thought out loud.

"Oh yeah, as an X-Man, I can attest to that." Scott agreed.

"We shouldn't dawdle." Melfina reminded. "If you guys are needed in Aegis HQ..."

"I'll call the ship." Gene pushed his glove forward, revealing a watch. _Man, I love Coreline technology..._ The group heard a rumble. "What?"

"Gene!" Melfina yelped. "I sense a lot of evil coming!"

"Oh, man..." Scott sighed. "I'd better power up." He did a pose. "Henshin!" The device on his belt activated, the X-Men's logo on it glowing. A blue glow covered Scott's body. The device then spoke.

 _ **Kamen Ride! X-Mutant! Cyclops!**_

When the glow stopped, the mutant hero had undergone quite the transformation. He was now clad in a blue armored suit, with dark blue and yellow highlights. The big feature was the yellow "X" crossing Scott's chest plate. The helmet was blue with the standard red insectoid-like eye lenses, but his had a red line connecting them. The eyes had dark blue and yellow piping, and between them were a pair of small golden antenna.

"Uh, what's with the suit?" Kara asked in confusion.

"Kamen Rider, Ms. Zor-El." Jerry explained. "This alt of Cyclops got himself a Henshin Device."

"Hen...shin?" Aisha blinked in confusion. Earth culture was _weird._

"It's Japanese." Doctor Starwind explained. "It means 'change body'." Aisha nodded in understanding. She looked over at Jerry.

"So tell me, Chang. Do you...Henshin?"

Jerry blinked. "...are you trying to flirt with me _now?!_ "

"DEMONS!" Melfina screamed, pointing ahead. A swarm of demons roared as they raced towards the heroes, looking like a wave of madness.

"Aw, hell..." Gene grumbled, loading his Caster Gun. Kara growled and clenched her fists.

"Jerry, I suggest we slow 'em down!" Scott yelled. Jerry nodded, figuring out what the alt of Cyclops meant. "ICE BEAM!" The eyes of Scott's helmet glowed blue and Jerry's fists also did the same. The mutant and Inhuman fired blue freezing energy beams at the horde. The beams slammed into the demons, trapping some of them in ice. "Supergirl..."

"You got it!" The Girl of Steel took to the air and in a red and blue blur, smashed into the ice. It shattered into smithereens, which also ended up having the helpful side effect of killing the frozen demons.

"They're still coming!" Melfina exclaimed.

"They're scattered and confused!" Scott exclaimed. "Hit 'em hard!" Supergirl dove down and slammed into the ground.

 _ **THOOM!**_

The shockwave she created not only created a big crater in the ground, but also sent the surviving demons further flying.

"Supergirl, get back over here!" Jerry yelled. "Those demons are magical, which means they can hurt you!"

"Right!" The Kryptonian woman flew back to them.

 **Elsewhere in Portland, earlier today.**

A forklift loaded a large crate into the cargo bay of the Outlaw Star. This action was happening in a special spaceport located in downtown Portland. Ships of all kinds could come over and refuel and resupply. This action was being watched by three beings. One was a foreman, wearing a blue jumpsuit with a yellow hardhat. The other two were two other members of the crew. One was a young man in his early 20s with a wild mop of blond hair...and who appeared to be an anthropomorphic raccoon. He was wearing an orange leather jacket with a blue t-shirt that had a white graphic of a bullseye. He also wore a pair of matching orange pants. His digigrade feet were bare.

"Alright, mac." The foreman handed a clipboard to the anthropomorphic raccoon. "Here's the manifest. Got everything you asked for?" Jim "Bullseye" Hawkins looked it over. **5**

"Yeah, got everything we need there, mate." He nodded, his voice having a Cockney accent. He looked over at the third figure: A slim woman wearing a dark purple kimono with silver shoulder pads. Her skin was pale green with yellow spots around her eyes. She had purple hair, and had a wooden sword strapped to her back. She was staring at the forklift as it left the ship. "Oi! Suzuka! What're you daydreamin' about?"

"Sorry, James. I was just assessing the potential threat of that forklift and its operator." The assassin stated. **6**

Jim rolled his eyes as the foreman chuckled. "Bloody hell, Suzuka. You worry too much."

"A bit paranoid, huh?" He asked with amusement. Jim nodded.

"Yeah, you could say that." The raccoon said. "Hey, sorry about the rush. It's Halloween, and we had better get to the shelters. I suggest you get your butts off-world. Some wacky crap goes down out here on this day."

"We hear you, mate." Jim nodded in understanding. "The rest of the crew are out explorin' and helpin' with the evac. Once that's done, we'll head out."

"Alright, then." The foreman shook Jim's hand. "Good luck to you, pal."

"Thanks, mate." The two watched the foreman leave.

"We should stay." Suzuka stated. "If there is danger here, we may be able to help. Gene, Mel, and Aisha are already helping with the evacuation..."

"We're bounty hunters, not superheroes." Jim frowned as the two headed into the ship. "This planet's got a gaggle of costumed crazies to take care of it. Let them handle it. I'm more interested in heading down to that tech convention on Graxos VIII. This guy is showing off an experimental new engine I have just _got_ to see..."

 **Portland, present time.**

The Outlaw Star raced around the skies of the forest-like city, being swarmed by demons.

"Get the hell off this ship, you ugly bastards!" Jim yelled from the pilot's seat, pitching the ship in an attempt to shake the demons off of the ship.

"Jim, we must find the others!" Suzuka reminded. She was sitting at the weapons console.

"I'm kind of busy trying to keep these monsters from tearing the ship to pieces at the moment, Suzuka!" Jim snapped. "Besides, Gene, Mel, and Aisha can take care of themselves! They're hardly pushovers!" He pitched the ship again. "You're at the weapons console! Instead of yelling at me about the others, can you _please_ concentrate on blasting these monsters back to whatever Hell spawned them?!"

"Very well." Suzuka activated some of the ship's weapons. A light on Jim's console activated.

"Holy cow, it's Gene!" He pressed the intercom. "Starwind, where the hell are you?!"

"Southwest Portland!" Gene exclaimed. "We need to get to Aegis HQ! Where are you?!"

"Above North Portland!" Jim answered. "Hang on! Are your transponders active?!"

"Alive and kicking, but we won't be much longer!" Gene yelled.

"Where is Aegis HQ?!" Jim asked. "I've never been there before!"

"Downtown Portland!" Jim heard Jerry Chang say. "And move it!"

"On our way!" Jim ended the transmission. "Gilliam! Set course for downtown Portland!"

" _Course set."_ The ship's AI answered.

"Alright!" Jim whooped. "While Gilliam flies, we'll take care of some business!" The anthropomorphic raccoon noticed the skies above the ship darken. "What the hell?!"

" _Alert! Unusual weather pattern detected!"_ Gilliam announced.

"Let's hope it's friendly." Suzuka said.

"It had better be, or else we're toast!" Jim exclaimed. He heard a thump from the ship's roof. "Oh, God..."

"That does not sound like hail."

"No kidding, Suzuka!" Jim snapped. The demons on the ship snarled at the figure standing on the ship. It appeared to be an anthropomorphic green-scaled dinosaur, dressed as Thor. Its golden helm gleamed and red cape blew in the wind, and it tightly gripped an odd-looking silver hammer, crackling with electrical power. Its red eyes glowed with righteous rage. **7**

 _ **Dino-Thor. Real Name: Unknown. Birthplace: Valley of Flame, Earth-15513. Physiology: Saurian. Powers and Abilities: Mjolnir grants power to control weather, naturally superhuman strength, speed, stamina, and durability, also enhanced by Mjolnir.**_

"Base demons!" Dino-Thor snarled. "You dare attack this region of Midgard?! This region is under the protection of Aegis! Surrender, or prepare to be smited!" The demons only roared in response and charged the saurian God of Thunder. He only nodded. "Very well. Smiting it is. They always do choose to be smited by my hammer!" He twirled it and used to mow down the demons that charged him.

 **Southwest Portland**

"RAHHHR!" Aisha Clan-Clan roared as she tore into a demon with her claws. "Hah! That's what you get for daring to cross a warrior of the mighty C'tarl C'tarl Empire!"

"Less bragging, more demon-killing!" Jerry snapped as he punched one demon out with an icy fist with spiky knuckles. "I can't believe I just said that." He tossed several ice daggers at a group of demons.

"We really oughta come visit Earth more often, hun." Gene told Melfina as he blasted a demon in the head with his Castor Gun. "This place is fun!"

"Personally, I'm kind of hoping we can see it during a more...peaceful time." Melfina said as she dodged a demon's strike, then vaporized it with a magic blast. "There are a couple art museums I wanted to visit here." Jerry frowned at the two.

"You two are insane. We're being attacked by demons and you're discussing plans for future visits."

Scott chuckled as he kicked a demon aside then finished it off with an optic blast. "You haven't been doing this kind of thing long, have you? Casual Danger Dialog is just part of the job."

"...no." Jerry admitted, then slashed a demon's throat with an ice sword.

"Well, there you go. You'll get used to it, pal." Scott reassured. He dodged a demon's swipe. "Do you mind?! I'm trying to help a friend out here!" He blasted the demon, vaporizing it. "Sheesh, demons are rude sometimes."

"Forgive me for not having the experience in the superhero thing you do, Scott." Jerry grunted, slicing a demon in half with his ice sword.

"Hey, I'm curious about something." Scott asked as he blasted another demon. "You call yourself Iceman, right?"

"Yeah."

"...was there a Bobby Drake in your world?"

"Yeah, friend of mine." Jerry answered. "Why?"

"Just curious." Scott shrugged. "There's a ton of alternate versions of friends and family running around."

"Tell me about it." Jerry grunted, killing another demon.

"HAHAHAHA!" Aisha cackled madly as she tore into another group of demons. "It has been far too long since I had been in a fight this intense!"

"Don't lose focus, Aisha!" Melfina chided as she zapped a demon with a blast of magical energy. "I know you like a good fight, but we have to get Aegis HQ!"

"Yeah, yeah!" Aisha grumbled as she grabbed a demon and tossed it into its comrades. She then smirked at Jerry. "You know, Mr. Chang, I tend to work up an appetite after a battle like this. Maybe afterwards, you can treat me to some dinner. I'll make sure to..." She liked her lips. "repay you _very_ generously." Jerry groaned while trying to hide his blush. Gene laughed and Mel giggled.

"I can't tell whether I'm supposed to pity you or not." Gene chuckled. "If I weren't Happily Married, I'd wonder if I should envy you." Up in the sky, Supergirl was dealing with a swarm of demons.

"Get back, you ugly beasts!" The Kryptonian yelled, then sent some demons flying back with a blast of freezing super-breath. One slashed at her, but she managed to dodge it, only tearing a rip in her cape. The Girl of Steel frowned. "I just had that cape fixed." She grabbed the demon, and tossed it into some of its flying comrades. She eyed another group coming their way. "Guys, they got reinforcements! A ton of them!"

"Awww, hell..." Scott grumbled. "Where's the Outlaw Star, Starwind?"

"It's on its way!" Doctor Starwind answered.

"Well, it had better hurry!" Scott blasted at some demons, then punched a couple more away. "We can't keep fighting like this forever!"

 _ **BZOW! BZOW!**_

The demon horde got blasted by a pair of lasers. The Outlaw Star swooped in like an avenging angel, firing at the demons in the sky. Dino-Thor was flying alongside it.

"YAHOO!" Jim whooped. "Here comes the cavalry!"

"Come, demons!" Dino-Thor yelled. "Come taste this uru hammer! Prepare to be smited by Dino-Thor!" The saurian warrior fired a blast of electrical power from his hammer at the horde, frying and scattering some demons.

"Alright!" Supergirl grinned, pumping her fist.

"Told ya." Gene smirked at Scott.

"Took their sweet time..." Jerry muttered as the Outlaw Star came to a landing.

"Sorry we're late!" Jim waved when the door opened up. "We got delayed by demons."

"Our delay was only temporary. Dino-Thor here helped deal with it." Suzuka added.

"Indeed." Dino-Thor nodded. "May a demon fell to my hammer."

"Well, let's get our butts over to Aegis HQ." Scott said. "Price needs us."

"Indeed." Supergirl nodded, rubbing the back of her neck. "We need an actual plan."

"Hopefully, Price and I can come up with an actual plan." Scott agreed as the group boarded the Outlaw Star.

"All I want to know is, does this 'Aegis HQ' have food?" Aisha asked. "I'm feeling a bit, what's the human term? Ah yes, peckish."

"I'm sure that they have plenty to eat, Aisha." Melfina reassured.

"With her appetite, I would not be surprised if she ends up eating Aegis out of house and home." Jerry grumbled. The heroes boarded the ship, and it took off. However, unknown to them, a blob of black slime started to seep out of a small crack in a sidewalk.

" _Toxic Looooveeee..._ " The blob seemed to sing softly...

 _ **Aegis's allies are in place, and Portland has erupted in demonic madness! What insanity will happen next? Will Aisha eat Aegis out of house and home? Will Jerry "Iceman" Chang ever get her to leave him alone? Will Dino-Thor smite more monsters? And what's with that blob thing? Find out in the next chapter!**_

1 – **This version of Gene Starwind is mixed with a bit of Dr. Strange and Star-Lord.**

 **2 –** **This version of Melfina is mixed with Domino and Clea.**

 **3 –** **This version of Aisha Clan-Clan is mixed with Drax and Tigra.**

 **4** **\- In** _ **Crisis on Infinite Earths**_

 **5** **\- This version of Jim Hawkins is mixed with Rocket Raccoon and Bullseye.**

 **6** **– This version of "Twilight" Suzuka is mixed with Gamora and Psylocke.**

 **7 –** **Dino-Thor first appeared in** _ **Spider-Island #5**_ **(December 2015)**


	3. A Moment of Calm!

**Coreline: Invasion of Portland**

 **Disclaimer: "You want 'im, you get him." - Commissioner Gordon, _Batman: Mask of the Phantasm._**

Chapter 3: A Moment of Calm

 **Southwest Portland**

The black blob slithered in an alley.

 _Ugh! This **place!**_ The blob thought in disgust. _It's so...so **clean.** How can humans **live** like this? **Why** would they live like this?! The trees...where's the pollution? Where's the smog? Where's the sludge?! Why aren't there even **cans on the ground?!**_ The black blob shuddered in rage. _Well, I'll just have to **fix** that then, hmm? Remind these humans that they're supposed to be **destroying** this planet, not letting the trees grow everywhere! ...But I am so weak. This place makes me so, so weak...so little pollution to draw power from..._

The blob continued to slither around, but then it stopped. _Wait...this strange power...it permeates the air...what is this power...yes...yes, I can draw from this power...I can draw strength from this power...yes, **spiritual** pollution...oh I cannot wait to give this place a taste of toxic loooove..._

 **Washington Park, Portland, Oregon.**

Washington Park. Created in 1909, the park contained numerous sights, including statues, the Oregon Zoo, the Hoyt Arboretum, and the Portland Children's Museum. Normally, it was one of the most beautiful sights in the City of Roses. But on this day, it had become a warzone.

 _ **Wham!**_

A demon shattered like it was made of glass when it ended up slamming into a badge-shaped shield resembling one of Captain America's early shields. The top was blue with three white 5-pointed stars, and the bottom area had five stripes, three red and two white. The wielder was one Jack Magniconte. The teenage Inhuman superathlete was wearing an armored suit that looked like a futuristic take on SWAT armor. It was primary blue in color with red and white highlights. The chest was painted to resemble the chest of Captain America's costume. However, the chest emblem was of a white symbol that resembled a letter A and a star merged together, with red and white stripes coming out of the sides meant to resemble wings. The shoulder pauldrons were black, bearing the Aegis logo on them.

"These demons are awfully fragile." Jack thought out loud as he smacked another demon with his shield. "I'm guessing their high numbers make up for their inability to take a hit."

"GONNA EAT YOUR FACE, YOU MOTHER-" Another demon roared as he took a leap at the white-haired Inhuman, but ended up also eating shield. Jack took a breath.

"God, I hate that they can talk." Jack muttered. He then saw a couple more demons come at him with blood in their eyes. The former football player set his jaw under his helmet. He split his shield in half, the striped part forming a bladed weapon, and the blue part still being a smaller shield.

"Get the human!" One demon yelled.

"Tasty! Tasty treat!" The other demon cackled. Jack scowled.

"Sorry, fellas. I would give you the mother of all indigestion." The football player charged at them. The demons stopped in shock, which gave the leader of Aegis a moment of opportunity. He slashed at one demon with his shield blade, shattering it. The other demon then got a hard smashing in the snout with the other half, also shattering.

"ARRRGH!" The last demon screamed as it shattered. Jack then looked around. "Okay, I think that's the last of them." He saw another demon land and shatter at his feet. He looked up and saw Jennifer walk up to him, brushing her hands. Her Aegis armor was predominantly red, with gold and silver highlights, and it sported a chest emblem of a silver letter "C", with the top part looking like a swirl of toothpaste. "Nice to see you here, Chrome."

"Yup." The steel-skinned powerhouse responded. "God, these demons aren't very tough."

"I figured that." Jack agreed with a nod. "They make up for it with numbers. Hard to kill them when they're swarming you." Jen looked up at the sky.

"Look at that sky, man. I never thought it was possible for it to be that red."

"Welcome to Coreline." Jack said. "Considering the crises that can pop up, I'm surprised that hasn't happened more often."

"I dunno about you man, but I can't complain." Jen told him. "I kind of like it when things are quiet."

"I agree, but I do admit..." Jack smiled. "I enjoy the action a little bit."

"You just like to play Captain America." Jen teased with a smirk.

"You say that like it's a bad thing." Jack grinned. He got a call on his helmet. "There's more demons swarming nearby. They're wrecking a store." The two superhuman youths ran towards the location.

"They must be going crazy right now, not being able to find any people to bother." Jen cackled. Jack chuckled.

"Well, then. Let's cheer them up a little bit." Jack said, a grin on his face. Jen couldn't help but smile a bit at Jack.

"Alright. Let's go have some fun." She chuckled. _Man, what is up with me? I used to_ _ **hate**_ _this stuff, but now...here I am, eager to add some iron to these demons' diets. I've been hanging out with these people way too long. But yet...I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. I must be going as crazy as them._

Inside the convenience store, a trio of demons were having their idea of fun.

"Glugglugglugglug..." One of the demons, a purple being with a pair of bull-like horns, was drinking from a soda fountain.

"Lame..." A second demon, a portly green demon with a single unicorn-like horn on the top of its head, frowned at a magazine, then tossed it nonchalantly on the floor. He picked up another one and frowned at the cover. "What's a 'Hot Rod'? Sounds really stupid." He tossed the magazine on the ground. He then eyes another one, wrapped in black plastic. "What's this?" He tore off the covering. The demon's eyes widened, and a sharp-toothed grin spread on its face. "Oh ho hooooo! Now _this_ one is _my_ thing!"

 _ **FWHAP!**_

"Hey!" The green demon exclaimed as the third demon whacked the magazine out of his hands. This demon was short and red, with three horns on its head. "What was that for?!"

"Quit screwing around!" The red demon snapped. "You notice something weird?"

"All I know is that this stuff is delicious!" The purple demon grinned. "I love this place!"

"Where are the humans?" The red demon looked around. "I've barely seen any since we got here! Except for those ones in the funny blue suits and the armors."

"Yeah. The blue uniform guys tend to be a bit squishy." The green demon recalled. "But the armor guys are pretty tough."

"I know he's talking about the Paladins, but I'll take that compliment." Jack's voice called out. The three demons turned around and saw Jack and Jen standing at the entrance. Jen's arms were crossed, and she was frowning. "Hello, boys. Me and my friend here were wondering if you guys could make us a sub." Jen smirked.

 _Heh. Amir is rubbing off on him._

"What the hell?" The green demon blinked.

"Hell is right." Jen smirked as she cracked her knuckles, her skin seemingly starting to pale and get shiny. "We've come to pick you boys up and send you back home."

"Well, I don't wanna!" The green demon pouted. "I like it here!"

"Heh. You think you brats can push _us_ around." The red demon smirked. "That's cute."

"We're Aegis." Jack explained. "We're protecting this town from creatures like you." The three demons looked at each other, then burst out laughing.

"Oh, that's rich! That is so rich!" The red demon laughed, wiping a tear from its eye. "You brats are hilarious!"

"Hey boss, what say we show these punks who the new kings of this town are?" The green demon smirked.

"Good idea." The red demon smirked back, cracking his own knuckles. "Hope you brats like to be eaten..."

"Heh heh, we like to eat." The purple demon added.

"Well then..." Jack looked at Jen. "Let's take 'em down."

"You boys are under arrest." Jen added.

"Arrest this!" The red demon spewed some fire at Jack, but got blocked by his shield.

"Blue 32! Blue 32!" Jack charged the red demon, shield still up. He slammed into the demon, racing between the other two. He continued his charge, slamming the red demon into a refrigerated display. The demon yelped.

"Holy crap! He got-!" The green demon exclaimed, but was cut short by Chrome clotheslining him and his purple compatriot.

"Ack!" The purple demon yelped.

"You're certainly hardier than your compatriots tend to be." Jack noted.

"We're a bit stronger than your average demon." The red demon explained with a grin as he shoved Jack back. The former football player grunted.

"Whatever you and your demon friends have planned, it's going to end tonight." Jack said with determination in his voice. The red demon burst out laughing.

"You _really_ think we're here as part of some evil plot? Oh, that's rich!"

"Then...why are you here?"

"Kid, we're just here to have some laughs." The red demon explained. "This time of year, the barriers between your world and ours are at their weakest. It's easier to come here and have some fun. And our idea of fun is causing havoc."

"You're a maniac!"

"I'm being me, kiddo!" The red demon cackled. "And now I'm going to kick your head in and burn your corpse."

"Bring it on, you Hellboy wannabe. You don't scare me." Jack sneered. Meanwhile, the green and purple demons were having...a rougher time against Chrome.

"AGH!" The green demon yelled as he got tossed into a display of items.

"Guh!" The purple demon gurgled as Jennifer grabbed the demon by his horns and smashed her knee into his face.

"Now, you polecats gonna surrender, or am I going to have to actually get _mean?_ " Jen growled, her Texan accent thickening with her threat. The purple demon gulped.

"You really mean that, don't you?" He mumbled nervously.

"In my metal form, I can crush your neck by just _slightly_ squeezing." Jen told the demon. She then grabbed the beast's throat and squeezed slightly, making the purple demon let out a frightened high-pitched squeal in response. The green demon grunted as it got to its feet. Its eyes widened as it saw Chrome strange its purple compatriot.

"Get off him!" The green demon roared as it leapt at the Texan Inhuman. However, the metal-skinned powerhouse easily saw it coming. Without even glancing at the green monstrosity, Jennifer gave it a backhand.

 _ **BAM!**_

The green demon was sent flying through the roof, making the purple demon scream in fright.

"Now, you gonna get the hell out of here?!" Jen growled. "I'll sleep like a baby tonight after what I did to your friend there."

"Okay, okay!" The purple demon nodded in agreement. "We'll go! We'll go! We'll leave!"

"Good!" Still keeping her grip on the demon, Jen opened the door. "Now _get outta here!_ " She angrily tossed the creature out the door. The screaming demon flew threw the air, and ended up splatting against a nearby wall. Meanwhile, Jack had been fighting the red demon.

"AGH!" The demon screamed as it clutched its hand in agony. It tried to punch Jack, but he was able to block the blow with his mighty shield, nearly breaking the demon's hand.

"When Captain America throws his mighty shield..." Jack sang as he separated his shield into its two parts. The red demon threw its other fist, but Jack used the blade part to slice off the demon's hand.

"AAAARGH!" The red demon screamed. The New Yorker then hit the demon with an overhead suplex, and finished it off with the blade half of his shield being driven right into the creature's face.

"God, is this what it's like to be in the Van Helsing family?" Jack muttered as he got to his feet.

"I wouldn't know." Jen chuckled as she walked up to her fellow Aegis agent.

"Hey, where's the green one?"

"Decided to treat itself to some roof for supper." Jen pointed upwards.

"We'd better find that thing." Jack advised. The two left the convenience store and saw the green demon's lifeless body. It was pretty easy for the white-haired Inhuman to figure out what exactly happened. He looked at Jen. "Remind me never to make you angry."

"Wise man, Jack." Jen smirked.

"Come on, let's go help the others." Jack waved. "I hope they managed to stay safe out there. God knows what could be out there." The two young Inhumans heard a hiss. They turned and saw that a streetlamp had started hissing at them. It sprouted a pair of arms and lashed out at them. "Oh, geez!" He blocked a slash with his shield. Jennifer took advantage of the distraction to rip the monster out of the ground and smash it into the ground.

"I hate Halloween." The steel-skinned Texan grumbled.

"I thin I'm starting to share it myself." Jack frowned. In the Japanese Garden, walked a slim teenage girl wearing Aegis armor. Hers was predominantly teal with white and blue highlights, bearing a chest symbol of a slashing saber. Keiko Miyamoto looked around at the garden, and memories came back to her as a sigh escaped her lips. She started thinking about a couple of weeks ago, the last time she saw her parents. Her father Hideo _loved_ this garden, as it reminded him of his native Japan. She then sighed. In the Coreline universe, Los Angeles was a Judge Dredd-esque Mega-City, practically its own nation. The city was a sort of Hell on Earth normally, but on Halloween...she hoped her family made it through okay. Both her parents were former superheroes, but she still could not help but worry. It didn't help that they were not popular among the Judges of that city for their efforts to get the government there to reform their brutal nature.

The mutant/Inhuman hybrid didn't hear the crackling and crumbling of rock behind her. Nor did she hear the growling behind her...but she did see the shadow covering her.

"What the-?!" She turned around.

"HELLO HUMAN." The rock demon grinned. "YOU LOOK TASTY."

"Oh, crap!" Kay pulled out a combat yo-yo from a compartment on her armor's belt. She then noticed a golden glow behind him. "What?"

"Huh?" The demon turned around, and its eyes widened.

 _ **FZOW!**_

"AGH!" The rock demon screamed as a blast of golden energy went through its chest.

 _ **FZOW! FZOW! FZOW!**_

Three more blasts hit the creature, shattering it. The final blast smashed its head to pieces. Kay blinked at her savior. It was revealed to be Amir, wearing yellow Aegis armor with gold and white highlights, bearing a chest emblem of a golden letter G that also formed a starburst.

"Gyral!" Kay yelped.

"Heh heh, normally, it's _you_ telling _me_ to stay focused." Amir chuckled. "You okay, Miyamoto?"

"Now I am." She gave Amir a hug. "Thanks."

"Hey, no biggie." The Chicago boy grinned. "Not like you to get distracted."

"Yeah, it's just this place." Kay smiled. "Dad loved coming here last time he was in Portland. I guess I'm just worried about him, Mom, and Ami. They're in LA, and considering what a nuthouse that place is normally..."

"Yeah, I'm worried about my parents over in Chicago, too." Amir nodded. "You ain't alone there, girl."

"Yeah...thanks again, Amir. We gotta get out of here. We got a job to do."

"Ahhhh, it's good to have you back." The Iranian-American youth grinned. He then looked at the pile of rocks. "What _was_ that thing, anyway?"

"You ever heard of the Inferno?" Kay asked. Amir frowned in thought.

"Think so. Wasn't it some big crazy thing in New York City some years ago?"

"Yeah. It was brushed off as some kind of mass hallucination." Kay explained. "Hell had come to New York. Literally. Demons attacked, people went crazy, objects turned into monsters."

"Oh yeah." Amir nodded in understanding. "I was a kid when that happened. I can't _believe_ brushed that off as a mass hallucination. Didn't people _die_ during that whole thing?"

"Oh yeah, tons of them. Remember? Miss Price was there. She fought a demonized police car that was trying to kill her and a bunch of people she was protecting."

"Ah, right." Amir recalled. "She said something about the whole mass hallucination thing being spread as an attempt to keep the survivors from going mad."

"Considering the stuff Price saw during that time, I can see why they'd spin that." Keiko sighed. "Subways taking people to hell, elevators eating people, police cars trying to run down black people..."

"Yeah." Amir looked around. "We should get out of here before these plants go Audrey on our butts."

"Good idea." Kay nodded. "Besides, it's a big city. Still demons to deal with out there." The two started to leave the Gardens. Amir took to the air, so he could get a better view of the area. "See anything?"

"Eh, just the usual havoc when it comes to crises like this..." Amir said. "Hopin' this stuff don't freak Kara out, though. Last time the skies got red on her world, she ended up dead."

"Right..." Keiko sighed. "Poor Kara. She can't go back to her world."

"None of us can." Amir reminded. "In Kara's case, it's even worse. Girl, you _read_ Crisis?" Even if she could go back...she would be a nonperson. Nobody there would know who she was."

They then got a call on their helmet radios.

"Talk to us." Keiko said. The two listened to the call on their radios. "You got it, Amir?"

"Yup." The Chicagoan mutant smirked as he held up his fists. They started glowing with golden energy. Keiko smirked back at him.

"Last one there is a rotten egg!" She zipped off.

"She knows I can't keep up with her, even in the air." Amir grumbled. He took off and flew after her. "Aren't the Ghostbusters taking care of that area?"

"Yup!" Keiko answered.

"They must need some help if they're calling us." Amir noted. "Those Ghostbusters are rather badass."

"Yeah!" Keiko agreed. "They got a werewolf and a dhampir on board, so

In front of the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, the other three superhuman Agents of Aegis were battling demons themselves.

"AIRGH!" One demon screamed as a trio of sharp purple crystal shards penetrated and shattered its body. The crystal shards were thrown by Quartz, his Aegis armor being purple with silver and white highlights. His armor had a chest emblem of a purple letter Q looked like it was cut out of a rectangular crystal.

"I have to admit, I am loving this." Andy Cortez grinned, forming a sword of purple crystal in his hands. "I feel like I'm in a tabletop campaign!" A second demon tried to ambush the young Inhuman, but ended up beheaded. "Ha ha! Behold! The mighty Crystal Knight defeats another wicked demonic foe!"

"Well, _he's_ at least having some laughs." Hal "Haywire" Danforth grumbled as he used his tanglewire to restrain a demon, then used a baton to shatter it. His Aegis armor was predominantly light green with dark green and white highlights. The light green areas of his armor had black squiggly lines all over them, and a pair of dark green "pipes" went over the shoulders, like in his old Squadron Supreme costumes. It also bore a chest emblem of a stylized green letter H. "I hope he remembers that this is a job."

"Don't be so glum, Haywire!" Jacqueline "Nightcat" Tavarez chuckled as she slashed one demon into pieces. Her Aegis armor was black with silver-and-white highlights, with her chest emblem being the old cat's head symbol she had back in the day. She then deftly flipped over another charging demon and smashed it to pieces with one kick. "Let the kid have his fun! Can't blame him! These demons are weak!"

"Individually, they are rather fragile." Quartz noted as he slashed at a couple more demons with his sword.

"That's why they come at us in _numbers_ , catgirl!" Haywire exclaimed as he smashed another demon with his baton. "They're trying to swarm us! Quartz! We need a breather!"

"One breather coming right up!" The Cuban-American Inhuman answered. He conjured up a dome of purple crystal around himself and the other two superhumans, giving them...well, a breather. They could hear the demons roaring and slashing at the barrier.

"Andy, how tough is this diamond?" Haywire asked.

"I have the potential to create crystals that can reach a level of 10 on the Mohs scale of mineral hardness." Quartz answered. "Heh. I'm codenamed Quartz, but my crystals are harder than actual quartz. It's a 7."

"So, it's pretty tough."

"Yup."

"If you're freaked out about the scratching noises, Hal, how do you think _I_ feel?" Nightcat frowned at the former Squadron Supreme member. "With my ears, it's even worse!" The three eyed the hole up at the top of the dome. "Andy, you think they could fit through there?"

"If they can, they'll have to get through one at a time." Andy said.

"Great, we can pick 'em off one at a time." Haywire grinned.

"That'll take forever, though." Nightcat reminded.

"Yeah, we need a way to get out of here." Haywire agreed.

"I can make a tunnel, but I won't be able to see where we're going." Quartz offered.

"And don't ask me to dig a way out. These claws are not made for that." Nightcat frowned. A demon peeked into the dome from above.

"Hello, kiddies AGH!" He shattered when Quartz threw a perfectly aimed crystal right between its eyes.

"I think I may have an idea." The Inhuman crystal-spinner grinned. He closed the hole in the dome.

"Kid, you just trapped us." Haywire pointed out.

"I'm going to bottleneck them." Quartz explained. "Open up a slight bit of the barrier, and force them to come through one at a time."

"Yeah, but one problem." Haywire pointed out. "We can't hold out forever, and there's still a lot of demons out there. Even bottlenecked, we still have the odds against us."

"We would have a chance of evening them, though." Andy countered.

"Andy, do the transponders still work under this crystal?" Nightcat asked.

"They should." Andy answered.

"Right." Nightcat put her hand to the side of her helmet. "Aegis, this is Nightcat. I need backup here, follow my transponder for location. We're under a dome of purple crystal near the OMSI." She rolled her eyes. "YES, Quartz created it!" She sighed. "Who the hell _else_ do you know around here who can make things with purple crystals?!" She listened to the dispatcher on the other end. "Right." She looked at the others. "Banks is on his way."

"You know what?" Haywire looked out at the dome's wall. "Open it up here." He pointed at a spot on it.

"Right there?" Quartz pointed at the spot, wanting to be sure.

"Right there." Hal confirmed with a nod. Quartz nodded, then opened the dome. The demons swarmed into the gap.

"Come and get some!" Nightcat roared, unleashing her claws. The three superhumans engaged the demons as they swarmed in. Quartz did not open the dome very widely. This was done to force the demons to fight their way in, bottlenecking them and making it easier for the Aegis agents to thin out their ranks. However, it would not last forever.

"We can't keep doing this!" Haywire grunted as he made some tanglewire wrapped around a demon. He yanked the wire, bringing the demon to him. Haywire smacked the demon hard in the head wit hhis baton, shattering it.

"How many of these things _are_ there?!" Andy exclaimed as he impaled a demon with a crystal sword.

"Not enough to eat us alive, I hope!" Hal kicked a demon, making it shatter. On a road leading up to the OMSI, a vehicle was racing up to the scene. It was an armored six-wheeled vehicle, four in the back and two in the front. The vehicle was dark blue, with gold-and-silver lining and the Aegis logo on the sides. A window on the passenger side went down, and Luther Banks, clad in his Paladin One armor, emerged, his futuristic sniper rifle in hand.

"I see the dome! Keep the vehicle steady, Paladin!" He ordered the driver.

"That is not safe!" The driver exclaimed.

"Pal, you should ask Price about the crazy crap I did in the Marines!" Banks retorted. The former Marine then carefully aimed his sniper rifle at the demons. The rifle quietly fired a laser blast that evaporated a demon's head. The demons all started freaking out.

"What's going on out there?" Quartz asked as he sliced off a demon's head with a crystal sword.

"Beats me, but if it messes these guys up, I welcome it!" Haywire answered before he used his tanglewire to choke another demon.

"I hear a vehicle coming up!" Nightcat yelped as she kicked a demon into a couple more of them. "It sounds like a big one!"

"Hope it's friendly!" Haywire grumbled. "Last thing we need is a demonic car trying to run us over!"

"I was grateful that Amir wasn't with us when we encountered that demonic truck." Quartz sighed. "You know he would _never_ have shut up with the _Maximum Overdrive_ jokes."

"Uh, Andy? That _was_ that truck." Haywire reminded.

"Oh, even better!" Andy groaned and rolled his eyes. Nightcat peeked out from the crystal dome, and noticed the demons outside panicking, and she saw them getting shot by lasers. She blinked.

"Guys, I think the cavalry's here."

"And on time for once." Quartz smiled gratefully. The Aegis vehicle ran over some of the demons, and Haywire couldn't help but smirk a bit.

"I _would_ feel sorry for them, but they're demons, so I don't." The extradimensional superhuman snickered. Quartz blinked as he saw an armored man leaning out the passenger side, shooting at the demons. His helmet made it hard to see his face, but the armor's design and the sniper rifle made him east to identify.

"Hey, that's Banks." Quartz realized. Haywire blinked.

"Wow." He mumbled. "I heard Banks was known for some stunts back in the day, but...yeah." The vehicle parked in front of the dome, and the three superhumans emerged from it. Banks and the Paladin emerged from the vehicle.

"How're you kids doing?" Banks asked as the visor of his helmet went up, revealing his face.

"Fine now, thanks to you." Quartz smiled.

"Good thing you showed up, man." Haywire shook Banks's hand. Nightcat blinked at the armored Paladin, but then her eyes widened as she picked up a familiar scent.

"Ramon!" The feline metahuman singer ran up to the Paladin and gave him a hug. Ramon Rodriguez smiled as his visor went up.

"Glad to see you're okay, babe."

She gave him a kiss. "Glad to see you didn't get yourself killed."

"You too, hon." Ramon grinned. "I guess I'm just hard to take out."

"Lucky for me." Nightcat purred.

"Hope you two didn't have too much trouble getting to us." Hal hoped.

Banks shrugged. "Eh, we had some minor roadblocks, but we managed to make it through alright." Ramirez glared at him.

"Monsters sprung out of the damn road!"

"And we took care of them."

"One of them nearly ate the damn back wheel!" Ramon exclaimed.

"But it didn't." Banks smirked. "Because I shot it."

Ramon shot Banks a look. "You enjoy this, don't you?"

"The job is never dull. That's why I love it." Banks smiled and patted Ramon's shoulder.

"This isn't over." Haywire shook his head. "There's going to be more Hell raised before this night is out."

"We're doing alright so far." Quartz shrugged.

"I think I may be agreeing with Haywire on this one." Nightcat shuddered. "Something's got my hackles raised."

"Some kind of cat thing, hon?" Nightcat nodded an affirmative to Ramon's question.

"Yup. I think so."

"If something big _is_ coming, how will we deal with it?" Quartz asked with a bit of worry.

"By working together." Banks said. "On this night, it's likely supernatural. We'll need the Ghostbusters' help for this one."

 **Aegis HQ**

"Thank you for coming, Jerry." Price smiled, shaking the Inhuman private detective's hand. It took Price a second to remind herself that this Jerry was not the same one from her native timeline. Price knew the Jerry Chang of her timeline. In the original universe Aegis came from, Jerry was a teenager. Here, he was an adult who clearly had quite an interesting life despite his seeming youth.

"You're welcome." The detective answered.

"I trust the trip was uneventful?"

"The trip itself was. The arrival was...eventful." Jerry recalled.

"Well, I'm glad you're alright. How did your case go?"

"Better than expected." Jerry answered, a smile on his face. "The malefactor was caught, lives were saved, and justice was served. For me, that's the best part of the job."

"It is." Price looked over at the Outlaw Star crew as Jerry walked off. Scott noticed the Chinese-American man walking by.

"Where are you going?"

"The kitchen." Jerry explained. "I want to make a sandwich. Why?"

"Just curious." Scott shrugged. He held up a small candy bar. "I got a couple protein bars. You want one instead? More convenient."

"No, thank you." Jerry shook his head. "I can't stand those things. They always taste terrible to me."

"This one is actually pretty good." Scott said. "You sure?"

"Yes, thank you." Jerry continued on his way. Meanwhile, Rosalind Price had introduced herself to the Outlaw Star's crew.

"Thanks for taking the guys over, Captain Starwind. I really appreciate it." Price shook the space cowboy sorcerer's hand.

"It's Doctor Starwind, Price." Gene smiled, tipping his hat.

"Portland is such a beautiful city. I saw holoimages of it, but in person is breathtaking." Melfina complimented.

"Halloween is really not the best time for sightseeing. We had to evacuate the city because of the demonic craziness."

"A wise decision." Suzuka said.

"Is there any food in this place?" Aisha asked, rubbing her stomach.

"You just ate an hour ago!" Jim exclaimed.

"C'tarl metabolism." Aisha shrugged.

"I doubt all the food on Earth could fill that bottomless pit you call a stomach." Jim grumbled.

"You're just mad I beat you in that hot dog contest." Aisha teased.

"You cheated! You and your bloody C'tarl metabolism!" Jim snapped at the smugly-smirking Aisha.

"You were not even supposed to _be_ in that particular contest, anyway." Melfina reminded.

"Not in that particular one, anyway." Suzuka added.

"You were afraid of losing to that Saiyan." Jim smirked. Aisha hissed.

"A soldier of the C'tarl Empire fears no one, little vermin."

"DON'T YOU CALL ME THAT, YOU-!" Jim tried to lunge at the C'tarl woman, but found himself held back by a certain Kryptonian woman.

"Knock it off!" Kara Zor-El snapped as and Dino-Thor pushed the two away from each other.

"Aye." Dino-Thor agreed. "This internal strife is just what our enemy desires. We must stand united if we are to be triumphant against the malefactors running rampant this day."

"Is there a problem here?" Price glared at the two.

"Naw." Aisha smirked. "Just having a little fun."

Jim took a breath. "Alright, Supergirl. I'm cool. Let me go." The Kryptonian woman slowly obeyed. "I just don't like being called 'vermin'..." Jim glared at Aisha. "...and she knows it."

"Knock it off, Clan Clan." Price ordered the feline alien.

"Agh! Hey!" Aisha yelped as she felt someone smack her upside the head. She glared at Suzuka as she rubbed her head. "Seriously?"

"You asked for it."

Aisha grumbled as she rubbed her head. "Where's the kitchen?" The alien woman asked. Price rolled her eyes and pointed it out to the C'tarl woman. "Thank you!"

"I'm the lady and the dinosaur on this one." Gene added. "We can't squabble like this." He noticed that Scott was leaning against the wall. He was still in his Rider armor, but his helmet was on a table nearby, his optic blasting eyes kept in check by his visor. His head was down. "Hey Eye-beams! You alright back there?" Scott looked up.

"Oh, I'm fine. I was just thinking." The mutant answered, a small smile on his face. "And I just had a realization."

"About what?" Kara asked.

"Does this town have its own Ghostbusters?"

"Many major cities have their own franchise." Price answered. "Why?"

"Because we may need their help." Scott answered. "Have you been in contact with them?"

"Of course." Price nodded. "They're in Northwest Portland right now."

"Is that where all those art galleries are?" Melfina asked. Price nodded. "I was kind of hoping we'd go see them if we ever came here. As well as those beautiful gardens."

"Yeah, Portland has some beautiful gardens, too." Kara told the bio-droid. She then noticed someone was missing. "Hey, where's Jerry?"

"He went to the kitchen." Scott explained. "He wanted to make himself a sandwich." True to the mutant's statement, the Inhuman cryokinetic was making a sandwich. His sandwich was a personal favorite: A "triple-decker", as he liked to call it. He took three slices of whole wheat bread, and put some ham, salami, turkey, cheese, lettuce, tomato, and mustard in it. He then put the sandwich on a dish, poured out a glass of milk, and went to the table to chow down. He put the sandwich to his open mouth.

"Well, well, well." Jerry's eyes moved to a smirking Aisha, leaning at the doorway. "A snack enjoying a snack." The Inhuman detective sighed.

"What do you want, Clan Clan?" Jerry asked, trying to keep his annoyance out of his face.

"Just thought I'd grab myself something to eat." Aisha sauntered to the fridge. "What's in here?"

"I've heard a _lot_ about the C'tarl appetite." Jerry grumbled. "I doubt Aegis will be able to adequately feed you."

"That dinosaur hangs out with you guys, so I think they can handle me." The grinning alien catgirl pulled out a big slab of meat from the fridge. "See?"

"That's Dino-Thor's mutton." Jerry told her. "Put that back. He gets...annoyed when people eat his mutton."

"Fine, whatever." Aisha put the mutton back. She then sauntered over to Jerry as he was eating his sandwich. "Whatcha eating?"

"It's a sandwich."

"You like your...sandwich?"

"I take it C'tarls have never heard of sandwiches."

"Actually, sandwiches were among the first bits of Earth culture that C'tarls picked up." Aisha explained. "We discovered they were very convenient food."

"And that you can devour them right quick." Jerry deduced.

"That helps." She took a seat on the table. "So, what're your plans after this?"

"...why do you want to know?" The cryokinetic Inhuman asked, completely puzzled.

"Call me curious." Aisha smiled. "After all, you Terrans like to say that about cats."

"About _cats_ , not C'tarls." Jerry said.

"Still, what you plan to do after this crisis?"

"Me?" Jerry rubbed his chin in thought, then ate some of his sandwich. "Work on another case."

"That's it?" Aisha cocked her head. Jerry shrugged and continued eating his sandwich. "You just work cases all the time?"

"I also enjoy reading and video games in my spare time."

"Must be lonely." Aisha scooted closer. "Ever thought about having a little...female company?"

"It's...not a priority at the moment." Jerry mumbled, his cheeks reddening. The feline alien opened her mouth, but the Inhuman detective was quick to continue. "And before you ask, no, it's not because I share my predecessor's immunity to feminine wiles."

"Ah, right." Aisha remembered that Jerry Chang was the _second_ Iceman. The original was the one who was gay. "I'm sure that leads to some...awkwardness."

"Only with stupid people. You have to have a special kind of idiocy to confuse a straight Chinese-American and a gay white man."

"I see." Aisha snickered. "I take it those X-Men humans weren't too happy with an Inhuman using one of 'their' names." She knew that some alts of the X-Men hated Inhumans.

"Not in my old reality." Jerry recalled. "But then again, my timeline suffered no Terrigen Crisis. There were clouds floating around, but they suddenly didn't become poisonous to mutants." Jerry had heard about it from some alts of his fellow Inhumans and X-Men, and he found the whole thing...a mass of insanity. One Deadpool alt called it "half-assed writing", but Jerry thought he was insane, too. Typical of Deadpool alts. All crazy in their own way.

"I'll bet." Aisha went back to the fridge. She found a package of hot dogs. Licking her lips, the feline alien opened the bag and started to eat the meaty links. Jerry shot her a disturbed look. "What?"

"Has no one told you that you are supposed to cook those?"

Aisha blinked. "You _cook_ these? They're delicious raw!"

"They're not meant to be eaten raw! You boil or grill them!" Jerry exclaimed. Aisha blinked at the Inhuman like he was from outer space.

"You humans are weird."

"We don't like the idea of getting botulism." Jerry grumbled.

"...what's botulism?" Aisha blinked.

"An illness mainly caught by poor food preparation." Jerry explained. "It's caused by a toxin produced by a bacteria called _clostridium botulinum._ "

"Oh."

"It can kill a human. Fortunately, it's a rare thing."

"Mm...well..." Aisha smirked. "This bacteria has never encountered the immune system of a C'tarl C'tarl. We can handle many Earth diseases."

Jerry frowned. "Is that true, or is that more hyperbole from you?"

"You sure do like your big words, Chang."

"I like to read." Jerry shrugged.

"What do you like to read, those books that are full of words and their meanings?" Aisha frowned.

"...Dictionaries. You mean dictionaries, right?"

"Yeahhhh, you _really_ need to get laid." Aisha chuckled.

"As I said, it's not a priority at the moment."

Aisha smirked. "Maybe you should change your priorities."

"I'm fine."

"I'm just sayin'." She took a seat next to Jerry. "A nice lady in your life would work wonders for you."

"And I take it _you_ want to take up that role."

"What made you deduce that?"

"I may not be very good at understanding social situations, but I'm not an idiot. Why me?"

Aisha scooted closer. "Why not?"

"I am not a toy."

"Well, there's another reason."

"...okay..."

"You fascinate me, Chang." Aisha admitted. "You have incredible power, but barely use it to its full potential."

"Too many superhumans tend to be overly dependent on their powers. I wish to buck that trend."

"But what's the point of having power if you don't _use_ it?"

"As I said, you can grow dependent on it." Jerry finished off his sandwich. "And that's dangerous. Not to mention that there are people out there who would have no qualms using power to hurt others because they can. That is why Rosalind Price formed Aegis in the first place."

"So, you're afraid you'll be like them?"

"...I'm more afraid of the addicting aspects of my power than going evil." Jerry admitted. "Don't you ever think about that?"

"Please." Aisha scoffed. "I am an immortal warrior of the C'tarl C'tarl Empire. To us, power is nothing to fear."

"That explains a lot about you, Miss Clan Clan." Jerry put his plate in the sink and walked out of the room.

 **Elsewhere in Aegis HQ**

Kara Zor-El stared up at the crimson skies over the the city of Portland out the large clear window. She was sitting on a cushioned ledge, sloughed against the wall, one of her legs on the ledge. The Kryptonian woman couldn't help but shudder a bit at the sight of it. Her body may have been mighty, but her mind was just as vulnerable as anyone else's. She found herself recalling the events of _Crisis on Infinite Earths..._ and her death. A chill went down her spine as the memories of her battle against the Anti-Monitor came to her mind.

"Penny for your thoughts?" A voice asked. Kara turned around and saw Scott walking towards her, Dino-Thor right behind him. Scott was still in his blue-and-yellow Kamen Rider uniform, his helmet under his arm.

"Oh, was I being a bother?" Kara asked in concern.

"No, Dino-Thor and I were talking some of the threats we could be facing when we saw you sitting there." Scott explained. "We were wondering if you were alright."

"Aye. You do seem troubled, fair lady." Dino-Thor agreed. "If something troubles you, perhaps talking about it may help you. Ease the burden, as it were."

"Eh, I don't see why not." Kara sighed. "It's just...the sky."

"Ah yeah, tends to mean Crises on your world, huh?" Scott recalled. Kara nodded.

"Yes. At least..." Kara sighed. "When the skies turned red back on my old Earth, it was not just a sign of a Crisis, it was the sign of a Crisis the likes of which we had never known. We had threats that encompassed multiple Earths, but..." She shook her head. "Nothing like it before. The Crises before that one involved usually only two or three alternate Earths. But this one..."

"I was for all the marbles." Scott realized.

"I saw a wall of anti-matter consume things and people. Nothing was safe from it." Kara continued. "We attacked the being causing it in its home dimension. I was one of the many heroes there to combat it." She frowned. "I volunteered to hold the line so the other heroes could escape."

"You stood alone against the Anti-Monitor." Dino-Thor recalled. "A noble sacrifice."

"Yeah." Kara sighed. "And...I have nightmares about it."

"Nightmares?" Dino-Thor blinked.

"She _died_ fighting that thing, Dino-Thor." Scott explained. "That can leave some mental scars. I should know."

"Seeing those skies...It's brought the memories back." Kara said. "I...I can still feel the Anti-Monitor's energy blast ripping into my body. I remember the feeling of my body shutting down in my cousin's arms. I have this fuzzy memory of talking to a dead man...and then I woke up here, confused and alive."

"I don't blame you, Kara." Scott said. "Dying, and then waking up in the Coreline...it can mess with your head."

"Sometimes, I wake up screaming." Kara put her knees up to her chest. "I see the Anti-Monitor blasting me. It's so vivid. I wake up screaming for him to not blast me again." Tears came down her eyes. "I get so scared to go to sleep, because I know the nightmare will come back." Dino-Thor scowled as he looked up at the sky.

"If that monster returns, Kara...I promise you, I shall slay him brutally."

 _Oh, God...the red skies must be a bit of a trigger for her._ Scott noted. "Kara..."

"I'm scared. I'm so scared." Kara whimpered. "What if he comes back? I came back...so can he. I...I can't face him again. I can't."

"Kara!" Scott ran up to Kara and put his hands on her shoulder. "Kara! Kara, listen to me! He may not come back."

"Aye. And if he does..." A smirking Dino-Thor smacked his hand with his hammer. "He may find himself facing resistance the likes of which he never encountered."

"You can't beat him, Dino-Thor. No one can." Kara said. "You'd be insane to take him alone."

"There's no guarantee that he'll come back, Kara." Scott tried to reassure the blonde Kryptonian.

"But he could." Kara said. "And if he comes here...I can't face him."

"If he comes, we'll find a way to beat him, Kara." Scott said. "You should talk to the psychiatrist about this. It should help."

"Yeah, I have been." Kara nodded in assurance. "It has helped a bit."

Scott nodded in approval. "Good. You should keep doing it." _You know, when you see people as powerful as Supergirl, you can tend to forget that their minds can be just as vulnerable as their bodies are strong..._ the sound of thumping interrupted their reverie. "The hell?"

"W-what?" Kara mumbled. The three heroes looked out the window, and what they saw made their jaws drop.

They saw a large monster, a blue-skinned single-eyed biped creature that stood several stories tall. It made a gurgling noise and started consuming a nearby building. Its stomach was transparent, allowing the three to see it digest the matter it consumed.

"Ugh, that thing is ugly as sin." Scott winced.

"What dark forces could _spawn_ such a creature?" Dino-Thor blinked.

"Looks like something out of an obscure 80s cartoon." Scott noted.

"I...think you're right, Scott." Kara said. "I've seen that before thanks to Amir's DVD collection. It's called a _Gagoyle._ And it is from an 80s cartoon."

"Wonderful. Do we have anything what this thing does?"

"All I know is that I have no desire to be eaten by it." Kara winced.

"We have to stop that creature." Dino-Thor reminded. "It will consume this hamlet if we do not."

"Right. Grab the others." Scott ordered. The saurian God of Thunder headed out. He looked at Kara. "Hey Kara, you don't have to fight that thing with us if you don't want to. We'll figure out another way to..."

The Kryptonian blonde shook her head. "It's alright." A small smile formed on her face. "Besides, I think I need to punch something right now. And that thing just volunteered." Scott smiled. 

"Right. Let's get down there." _I'll have to get my armor's computer to give me any info its got on this 'Gagoyle' thing. Knowledge is power, after all, and any info on this thing will be useful..._

 **Northwest Portland**

 _ **KA-ZAP!**_

A proton stream vaporized another demon. Rachel Unglighter, clad in a neon blue Ghostbusters jumpsuit, smirked.

"One down, another twenty thousand to go." She said. She then zapped a few more demons with her proton cannon. One ran away, panting as it approached an alley. The demon then heard a snarling noise.

"Huh?" The demon looked in the alley and saw a pair of yellow glowing eyes glaring at him. "Uh..." The owner of the eyes then marched towards the demon, making its own eyes widen. The tall black werewolf snarled at the demon.

"Uh...hi." The demon grinned nervously at the creature. "You're a pretty doggy. You want a bone?" The werewolf shot the demon an unimpressed look. He raised a paw, which the demon noticed had some strange device over it, complete with metal claws that crackled with boson energy. "Oh. You're going to kill me, aren't you." The werewolf nodded.

 _ **SMASH!**_

The werewolf's paw came down on the demon, the boson-charged claws ripping it to pieces. Rachel ran up to the creature.

"How's it going up there, Kessler?"

"Fine and not fine." David Kessler rumbled out, his voice deep and intimidating. "I've cleared out some of those monsters in that nearby plaza, but more keep coming." Five years ago, the American college student turned werewolf found himself waking up in the Coreline's Portland, confused, terrified, and vaguely remembering getting shot up in London. Rachel Unglighter found him, and brought him to the Portland Ghostbusters' HQ. Here in the Coreline, lycanthropy had become less of a problem for its sufferers. Thanks to some connections she had, Kessler was able to understand and master his cursed form. Now, he was able to transform at will, and even retain his mind and personality in his wolfman form. "I hate Halloweens here. I don't think I'll ever get used to this."

"Even after five years and you getting furry under full moons?" Rachel smirked. The two heard a rumbling. "The hell?" The two turned and saw a demonic truck charging at them.

"GONNA RUN YOU DOWN! FIFTY POINTS, BEYOTCH!"

"Demon trucks." David grumbled. "I hate demon trucks."

"You get grumbly about everything in your werewolf form." Rachel teased. David shrugged.

"My inner wolf hated everything. I guess it rubbed off on me." A pair of demons watched this exchange and fled to an alley.

"We should be safe here! As long as they don't see us!" One of them said.

"Yeah!" The other demon nodded in agreement. "God, that big wolf thing was scary!"

"I know! We're supposed to be the scary ones!" The first demon panted. The two demons heard chuckling. They looked at each other in confusion. "Huh?" They turned to the darkness in the alley. A pair of glowing yellow eyes peered down at them, making the demons' own eyes widen.

"What is that?!" One of the demons exclaimed. They saw green-and-yellow lightning race up and down a katana blade.

"Your death." The eyes' owner answered. The blade then whipped into the air.

 _ **SLASH! SLASH!**_

The energy-charged katana sliced into the demons, cutting them up into small pieces. The blade's owner then walked out into the light. She was an African-American teenage girl, her long dark hair combed to one side to show her head was partially shaved, and she wore hoop earrings. Her eyes' yellow glow faded, revealing her eyes to be a golden brown. She wore a gray and white Ghostbusters jumpsuit with red highlights and the name "Grey" on the nametag. Her outfit had a proton pack on the back that was connected to a pistol holstered on her left hip. Her right hip had a scabbard.

 _ **Blade II. Real Name: Fallon Grey. Birthplace: Detroit, Michigan. Physiology: Dhampir (Human-Vampire hybrid). Affiliation: Ghostbusters. Powers and Abilities: Superhuman strength, speed, senses, agility, reflexes, reaction time. Dhampic nature makes traditional vampire weaknesses ineffectual.**_

Fallon was the daughter of the legendary British vampire hunter born Eric Brooks, but known as Blade. Like her father, she was a dhampir, a being with all the power and strength of the vampire, but none of the weaknesses. However, unlike her father, she didn't just specialize in fighting vampires, but all sorts of supernatural menaces. Which made her a perfect fit for Rachel Unglighter's Ghostbuster team. She saw a coupe more demons leap off a roof, whipped out her Proton Pistol, and started shooting

 _ **FZAM! FZAM! FZAM! FZAM!**_

The demons got vaporized in a blast of proton energy. Fallon nodded with a smirk.

"Heh. If Dad could see me now..." The dhampir chuckled as she twirled her gun. A group of demons roared as they charged at her. "Oh, look." A grin formed on her face, and her fangs gleamed.

 _ **BOOM!**_

A large figure clad in blue ninja garb landed in front of the demons. The garb had black metal shoulderpads with the Ghostbusters logo on them, and on the back of the outfit. The figure whipped out a pair of nunchucks, which glowed with proton power.

 _ **KRACKL! KRACKL!**_

The robotic ninja smashed the demons with the nunchucks, which made them crumble to dust. He turned to Fallon, his eyes glowing yellow. They were the only parts of his face that were visible.

"Thanks, Ninja. But I had it handled."

Before coming to the Coreline, Ninja was one of three robotic warriors created to help free his world from a brutal dictatorship. Now, he had been heavily modified for fighting ghosts and mosters as part of Coreline Portland's Ghostbuster team.

"Hai." The robotic warrior said, his voice being Japanese-accented with an electronic lit to it. "But the demons must be dealt with as efficiently as possible." More demons came at the two, but Ninja pointed an outstretched hand at them. His hand expanded and folded itself into a cannon. The weapon's nozzle started to glow with multicolored proton energy.

 _ **ZORCH!**_

The cannon released a powerful stream of protonic energy that slammed into the demons, scattering some and vaporizing others. "They are quite weak on their own." **(A/N: In case you're wondering, this is a character from the 1994 video game** _ **Ninja Warriors**_ **)**

"Yeah, but the bastards are big in numbers." Fallon grumbled. She noticed that Rachel and David ran towards them. David was back in his human form, wearing a dark red and brown Ghostbuster jumpsuit (His jumpsuit was designed to change with him), his energy claw apparatus still on his hands and wrists. "What's going on, boss?"

"We got a call. Some strange disturbance in a greenhouse nearby." Rachel explained.

"They claim it's some kind of smog monster, killing the plants there." David added.

"Isn't that a little out of our territory?" Fallon frowned. "That doesn't sound like something supernatural. Can't Aegis take care of it?"

"We should not neglect this." Ninja advised sagely. "We may be able to help calm the situation until Aegis can handle it properly."

"The robot's right." Rachel nodded. "We're nearby. We can take a look. Let's go." The Ghostbusters went to their version of Ecto-1, which was a 2000 Dodge B-series van. Thanks to Coreline tech, the van used a tessaract system to make it bigger on the inside, which allowed it to have a mobile lab and even accommodations so they can go camping. The group drove to the source of the call. Rachel's jaw dropped from the driver's seat. "What...is that thing?"

"I think I've seen it somewhere before." Fallon blinked.

"A most unusual creature." Ninja noted.

"Oh, this is going to suck..." David facepalmed.

 _ **Well, well, well! Looks like things are getting more interesting! What insanity will happen next? Can our heroes beat the monsters? Will Aisha score a date with Jerry? Will the Ghostbusters get a taste of Toxic Love? Find out in the next chapter!**_


End file.
